About Sindh Literature Festival
SLF celebrates the power of words, culture, music and the teachings of peace and tolerance. The purpose is to highlight that Sindh boasts rich and vibrant cultures and traditions and they offer a different flavors of the province. It aims to provide a venue for established and emerging writers to meet with their readers and to engage new fans. Literary and cultural traditions of the province are being celebrated in the three-day event.
Along with live coverage, a variety of stories, reports, programs, and packages are also produced. A number of TV channels and newspapers publish news and columns. Different sessions including book launches and discussions on various topics, theater, music, and mushaira are also planned over the course of three days.
The 5th Sindh Literature Festival was held from 18-20 March 2022, under the theme Centennial Celebration of Mohenjo-Daro in Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi. This event was attributed to the “Mohenjo-Daro” of Sindh as the Centennial Celebration of the discovery of Mohenjo-Daro, an ancient archaeological site of immense historical significance in the world. For the occasion, a special theme song Mohenjo-Daro was prepared to sing the glory of this prehistoric city of Indus Civilization, written by renowned Sindhi poet Ali Akash, and composed by musician Saad Alavi. The opening ceremony of SLF started with this song, received well and cheered by the audience.
The 4th Sindh Literature Festival was held from 12th to14th March, 2021 at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi. Syed Sardar Ali Shah, Provincial Minister of Sindh for Culture, Tourism and Antiquities inaugurated the festival. Despite of the pandemic the festival was a huge success and was attended by the large number of the participants.
The 3rd Sindh Literature Festival was held from 22nd to 24th February, 2019 at the Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi. His Excellency President of Pakistan Mr. Arif Alvi graced the occasion. Great historian Dr. Mubarak Ali formally opened the event by cutting the ribbon. Around 100,000 people attended the festival.
The 2nd Sindh Literature Festival was held from 27th to 29th October, 2017, at the Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi. The Festival was inaugurated by Philanthropist and Businessman Jahangir Siddiqui. Around 1 Lac people attended the SLF 2017. 45 different sessions, including book launches, discussion on various topics, music and Mushaira were also planned over the course of 3 days. The festival concluded with a folk music concert of the famous singer Sanam Marvi.
The first ever three day festival was held from 4th to 6th November, 2016 at Beach Luxury Hotel Karachi. The Sufi singer, Madam Abida Parveen, formally opened the event by cutting the ribbon. In SLF 2016, attendance was around 50,000 people, but the message reached all over the world through more than 32 TV Channels reports and many of the newspapers including English, Urdu and Sindhi. 35 sessions, 55 speakers, 35 moderators and more than 100 poets were part of the first Sindh Literature Festival.
Aims and Objectivs
- To provide writers a platform to interact with each other and the general public, especially their readers and youth.
- To give an opportunity to writers of all kind, established, new and emerging to present and produce their writings and thoughts.
- To promote languages, cultural assets, heritage, history, fine arts, music, education, archaeology and anthropology etc.
- To introduce newly published books and works in different languages.
- To highlight the importance of books and literature in the contemporary age of new technologies.
- To encourage female and young writers and give them substantive space in events of the festival.
TEAM SLF
Naseer Gopang
Founder & Producer
Naseer Gopang
Founder & Producer
Naseer is the man behind the idea of the Sindh Literature Festival. Because of his vision and foresight, this festival was successfully initiated. He has a Masters Degree in Literature. Basically, he is a journalist and he started journalism in 2003. As a journalist and television personality, he has worked with many newspapers and channels. He visited the USA as part of the journalist exchange program.
He has been the Director of News & Current Affairs at Dharti TV. In addition, he has hosted several programs, including Opinion with Ali Kazi, The Front Page, Issues, Sindh Agenda, and News Talk with Naseer Gopang.
He is also a member of different organizations like the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Pakistan-USA Alumni Network, etc.
Zohaib Kaka
Managing Director
Zohaib Kaka
Managing Director
Zohaib is a founding member of Sindh Literature Festival. With Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Business Administration, he began his career in journalism in 2010 as an Anchor and Director of Business News at KTN News, Karachi.
His primary responsibilities include research and conduct live programs. He was selected as a Fellow in a Journalist Exchange Program to the United States of America. He did a certification in Business Journalism from Institute of Business Administration IBA, Karachi.
He has been a guest speaker in different institutions and organisations. He got many awards for his work; including Consumer’s Choice Award for consecutive four years, award from Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, recognition from FPCCI and many others.