The Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) returned to New York last week, allowing the diaspora and foreign audiences a chance to explore Pakistan through panel discussions between artists, writers and musicians in celebration of the country’s cultural heritage.
Co-hosted by the Asia Society, the one-day ticketed event showcased contemporary Pakistan’s literary accomplishments, with panel discussions on fiction and nonfiction writing, art, science, history, politics and music.
The event kicked off with a welcome message by LLF CEO Razi Ahmed, who hoped it would facilitate further cultural understanding between Pakistan and the United States and highlight the “healing power” of the written word. Consul General of Pakistan in New York Aamer Ahmed Atozai, in his address, praised LLF for emerging as a “dynamic platform” that showcases Pakistan’s literary heritage and places it in a global context.
LLF New York 2025 continued with a panel discussion on British-Pakistani journalist Mishal Husain’s new book, Broken Threads: My Family From Empire to Independence, and the lingering impact of Partition on generations of South Asians. Similarly, Flaneur’s Lahore highlighted the history of Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural capital, through the lens of Manan Ahmed Asif, who has penned Disrupted City: Walking the Pathways of Memory and History in Lahore.
The event included panels on street food in Pakistan, and the work of the Lahore Biennale Foundation in bringing art to citizens and encouraging critical discourse. It also highlighted a youth poetry session featuring Pakistan’s Youth Poet Laureates and an examination of Punjabi poetry through the art and legacy of Ustaad Naseeruddin Saami.
Among the notable speakers at the event were Iftikhar Dadi, Qudsia Rahim, Vasaka Dassi, Mumtaz Mustafa, Nusrat Durrani, Amina Tahir Khan, and Mashallah Saif.
LLF NYC 2025 concluded with a qawwali performance by the Saami Brothers.
Recorded videos of the panel discussions are now available at the Asia Society’s official YouTube page.