The Department of English and Humanities at ULAB is going to host the Fifth ‘ULAB Literary Salon’ showcasing a discussion on one of the most pressing issues of our time: freedom of expression on 17 September at the ULAB Research Building, Dhanmondi.
Media persons and media houses across South Asia have, besides being bullied by censorship, come under outright attack by both state and non-state actors. Free speech and liberal opinion are threatened as never before.
To discuss these issues, the fifth ULAB Lit Salon brings together a diverse group of experts drawn from the policy and its practice, publishing, and media: Khushi Kabir, coordinator of ‘Nijera Kori’, Trustee of the Centre for Policy Dialogue and among Bangladesh’s best-known advocates for human rights; Himanjali Sankar, Editorial Director of Simon and Schuster in India/South Asia; Zafar Sobhan, Editor of Dhaka Tribune; and Sudeep Chakravarti, South Asia analyst, author, columnist and, currently, visiting faculty at ULAB. Sarah Anjum Bari, Books Editor at The Daily Star and a faculty member at ULAB, will helm the conversation.
The Lit Salon is a first-of-its-kind literary platform in Dhaka to bring together writers, readers, publishers and thought leaders from Bangladesh and elsewhere in South Asia in an informal, engaging setting. Once a month, each month, the ULAB Lit Salon offers Dhaka’s literary-minded a Saturday evening of book launches of leading authors, book readings, discussions, book signings, and the sale of books at a discount by The Bookworm and ULAB Press, ULAB Lit Salon’s partners.