Organized by the Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) in collaboration with the Oxford University Press (OUP) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF), the festival expects participation of about 25,000 children from all around Pakistan. The co-host for Lahore CLF 2013 is the Children’s Library Complex (CLC).

Lahore: The two day Children’s Literature Festival (CLF) aims to promote the culture of reading in children across Pakistan and to enhance their capability to think creatively and critically. Organized jointly by the Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagah (ITA), Oxford University Press (OUP) and Open Society Foundations (OSF), this festival hopes to bring together children from ALL backgrounds and languages to a common platform where they can learn, communicate, interact and participate in fun activities without any biases. True to its legacy of being one of the best national platform for children, the seventh CLF since 2011 is back in Lahore with many exciting activities including, theatre, digital workshops, activities to develop learning /reading materials, animation, creative writing, illustration, plenary sessions, children’s films, puppet shows, story reading, sing along sessions, book launches and book fairs. The festival will also include its trademark children’s poetry and narrative session “Bol Kay Lab Azad Hain Teray”. Moreover, the festival will be awarding prizes for the “Story Writing and Poetry Writing Competition” and the “Drawing and Painting Competition” for which the CLF received more than 2,000 entries. Child authors ages 8, 10 and 11 will be running sessions on creative writing, reading etc.
The Lahore CLF 2013 will also host performers, teachers and storytellers from across the border to provide an enriching cultural experience for the children and to encourage the exchange of ideas regarding children’s literature and the art of storytelling. Theatre groups for children, “Gripps and Thespianz” will be present. Zambeel Dramatic Readings group (Karachi), a dynamic group rendering Urdu and English texts in a dramatized form is also participating in the event, bringing an endearing tale of Naiyer Masud to life. Several workshops are planned throughout the two days for children and educators to learn about the contemporary form of radio plays, dramatic expression in storytelling, the art of debating, illustrations and book writing.
“Our aim in holding CLFs is to promote a love of reading and learning among children so they become critical thinkers, ask questions, learn to access information from books and other sources, process that information, and form their own opinions.” – Ameena Saiyid
The founders and organizers of Children’s Literature Festival are: Baela Raza Jamil, the Director Programs for Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agaahi (ITA), and Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director of Oxford University Press (OUP). It is a matter of great pride to announce that some of the country’s most eminent authors, poets, institutions are working in collaboration with CLF such as Zehra Nigah, Arfa Syeda Zehra, Rumana Husain, Kishwar Naheed, Amjad Islam Amjad, Hamida Khuhro, Zubeida Mustafa, Dr. Shahid Siddiqui, Khaled Anum,Habib Bank Limited, Alif Ailaan, Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP), The Little Art, Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC), Punjabi Institute of Language, Art and Culture, Sindh Education Foundation, Alif Laila Book Bus Society, Goethe Institute, Fiver River Technologies, Gripps Theatre, National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), Al Baraka Banking Group, Democratic Commission for Human Development (DCHD) and others.
"A journey that just began in November 2011 has gathered an unprecedented momentum; it has blossomed into a movement for learning and healing across the country through an indigenous template designed by our amazing authors, poets, educationists, actors and artists for the love of ALL children, passionate about promoting reading for pleasure, imagination and new genres of caring citizenship.” – Baela Raza Jamil