Global Connections
Wimbledon BookFest Partners with the Lahore Literary Festival
A new partnership between Wimbledon BookFest and the Lahore Literary Festival will bring a strand of events celebrating South Asian voices to this year’s festival.
Festival Director Fiona Razvi drew on her own heritage to forge unique links between BookFest and the prestigious Lahore Literary Festival, which takes place annually in the Punjab, Pakistan.
The LLF strand at Wimbledon BookFest includes memoir, food, history and architecture events:
New Generation Thinker and British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding nominee Nandini Das discusses her ground-breaking history of British colonialism in India.
Author and Middle-Eastern specialist Diana Darke traces the Islamic and Arab roots of Europe’s architectural heritage.
Broadcaster Aasmah Mir and designer Osman Yousefzada come together to discuss the joys and challenges of growing up between British and Pakistani cultures.
Chef Ravinder Bhogal on her latest book Comfort & Joy and the recipes inspired by her mixed heritage.
Booker Prize shortlisted writer Mohsin Hamid, author of the critically acclaimed The Last White Man, will join BookFest from Pakistan for a live streamed event discussing the novel. The Last White Man was selected as the inaugural Merton Big Read with 500 free copies of the book distributed to residents across the borough.
Wimbledon BookFest Director Fiona Razvi said, ‘Working with the Lahore Literary Festival is an exciting new stage in BookFest’s commitment to sharing stories and building connections across borders. The LLF is one of South Asia’s premier cultural events and we are thrilled to be working alongside them to celebrate and amplify the voices of South Asian heritage.’
Razi Ahmed, Founder and CEO of the Lahore Literary Festival said: ‘We are delighted to be partnering with the Wimbledon Book Festival to connect our two wonderful festivals that aim for more diversity, inclusivity and foregrounding big ideas. This year at the Wimbledon Book Festival, we co-present sessions that evoke the spirit of Lahore through conversations on race, assimilation, architectural legacies, identity and gender and will be further broadening this rich repertoire annually as we embark on this exhilarating journey of more Pakistani and South Asian writers speaking in Wimbledon and the South Asian diaspora and British writers showcased in our Spring 2024 program in Lahore. Together with Fiona Razvi and her team, we will work during the coming years on a more culturally integrated and interconnected series bringing Asia and Britain closer.’
