Kashmir to have first ever international literary fest

Srinagar, April 16 (IANS) The first ever international Kashmir literary festival, on the lines of the Jaipur Literary Festival, is to be organized in the Valley this year, an official said here Monday.

'In an effort to bring Kashmir on the international literary scene, 'Adbee Markaz Kamraz' (AMK) will organize the first ever international-level Kashmir Literary Festival (KLF) in Srinagar this year,' Shujaat Bukhari, general secretary of a local literary forum, said.

'The festival will be on the lines of the Jaipur Literary Festival and the Karachi Literary Festival held in recent past.

'This will be the first of its kind literary carnival in Kashmir, in which authors around the world will be invited to share their works with the local authors,' Bukhari told IANS.

AMK is in the process of finalizing negotiations with some independent bodies to help make he event a grand success.

'This will be a platform for not only exposing the local authors to international audience to showcase their works, but will also be an opportunity to highlight the sufferings of people during past 21 years,' the organizers asserted.

Kashmir literary festival is an effort of the AMK, the oldest and the largest literary federation of literary and cultural bodies of Jammu and Kashmir, to play its part in the renaissance of cultural and literary legacy of the state.