The Lahore Literary Festival (LLF), one of South Asia’s premier cultural events, returns to Asia Society New York on October 10 (Saturday), exploring contemporary Pakistan through artists, writers, and other experts. The festival aims to provide American audiences with a more nuanced view of Pakistan, with discussions on fiction and nonfiction writing, art, science, history, and politics. LLF 2026 will bring Lahore and New York together with a vibrant selection of lyrical and literary offerings: speakers this year include Marina Khan, Hazel Kahan, Suketu Mehta, Sunita Kohli, Ayeda Husain, Salima Hashmi and more.
This is a ticketed event.
Program
11 a.m.
Welcome and Introductory Remarks
- Rachel Cooper, Director, Global Performing Arts and Culture as Diplomacy, Asia Society
- Razi Ahmed, Founder, Lahore Literary Festival
11:15- 12 p.m.
A House in Lahore: A Memory
- Hazel Kahan, author of A House In Lahore: Growing Up Jewish in Pakistan. Kahan recalls her family’s life at 55 Lawrence Road during the 1960s, offering a rare and intimate portrait of the city through the eyes of a Jewish family who called Lahore home.
- Moderator: Sadia Shepard, author of The Girl From Foreign and producer of The September Issue.
12:15 – 1 p.m.
The Megacity, Up Close
- Cassim Shepard, Urban theorist
- Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City
- Moderator: Rozina Ali, journalist and contributing writer at New York Times Magazine
Shepard and Mehta explore the megacity through the lived experience of its neighborhoods, streets and diverse communities, asking how density, housing and urban change shape the way we inhabit our cities.
1 – 2 p.m.
Lunch Break
2 – 2:30 p.m.
A Culinary Journey in South Asia: From Lahore to Lucknow
- Sunita Kohli, author of The Lucknow Cookbook. The Lahore-born, Delhi-based Kohli traces the rich culinary traditions of the Subcontinent, from Lahore to Lucknow.
- Moderator: Mumtaz Mustafa, co-author of Gather and Graze: Globally Inspired Small Bites and Gorgeous Table Scapes For Every Occasion
2:45 – 3:30 p.m.
The Sufi Tarot
- Ayeda Husain, author of The Sufi Tarot, explores Tarot’s often-overlooked Eastern dimensions, tracing its mystical resonances through the world of Ibn Arabi and the Mamluks
- Moderator: Felicia Kainat Norton, interfaith teacher and dance performer
3:45 – 4:30 p.m.
Storytelling Across Borders: Pakistani TV Dramas and Their Global Impact
- Marina Khan, renowned Pakistani television and film actress, director, and producer
- Mehreen Jabbar, New York-based film director
- Fifi Haroon, journalist
- Moderator: Farwa Aamer, Director of South Asia Initiatives at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI)
Pakistani TV dramas have evolved into a distinctive cultural force, with stories, characters, and themes that connect audiences across borders, asking: what makes Pakistani dramas an instrument of cultural diplomacy? This panel explores the soft power of storytelling through television
4:45 – 5:30 p.m.
Art, Life & Memory
- Salima Hashmi, contemporary artist, gallerist, curator, author, and former principal of the National College of Arts University, Lahore.
- Moderator: Dr. Azra Raza, author of The First Cell and A Tribute to Ghalib, and leading oncologist at Columbia University
Join us for the unveiling of Waiting in the Wings, Salima Hashmi’s memoir of art, family and a life at the heart of Pakistan’s cultural landscape.
5:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks, Rachel Cooper & Razi Ahmed
Patrons:
- Farvah Shah
- Yasir Mahmood
- Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos
- Qaiser Family Foundation
- Zainab and Ali Akbar
- Shaziah and Azmat Zuberi
Acknowledgements:
- Rachel Cooper
- Saira & Iqbal Z. Ahmed
- Marina & Qazi Shaukat Fareed
- Nusrat (Nuscie) Jamil
- Alizah Raza
- Diya Radhakrishna
- Sana Shah Siddiqui
- Jahanzeb Aslam
- Minhaj Rafi
Held in partnership with the Asia Society, New York
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