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This year's Karachi Literature Festival began on Friday, it opened with a minute of silence for literary giant Intizar Hussain, who passed away on February 2.

"He was Pakistan's greatest literary treasure," said OUP Managing Director and KLF founder/director Ameena Saiyid, while KLF founder Asif Farrukhi summarised Intizar sahab's significance thus:

"Intizar Hussain had become the father of all literature festivals."

'Agay Samandar Hai: In conversation with Intizar Husain' was converted into a tribute session, where his friends and fellow writers shared their memories of the legend.

The welcome address was followed by speeches of the festival sponsors:

Dance performances began with Amna Mawaz Khan taking the stage first:

And Mani Chao's dance troupe followed, rounding off the performances with a strong finish:

In the awards section of the opening ceremony, the first award to be given out was the KLF-Embassy of France Best Fiction Prize. It was awarded to Aamer Hussein for '37 Bridges and Other Stories'.

Before you head out, here's a couple of more things worth knowing:

The munchies

Foodie lit-lovers were happy to know that "the food court was bigger than last year's".

The usual vendors like Domino's Pizza, Hanifia Burgers, Espresso and Biryani of the Seas were present, as were the popular chaatwala Pappu Chaat.

In this quick first look at the food court - we were glad to know Lipton's pledged to keep us well-supplied with cups of tea!

For those curious, the Spoonful guys - who made last year's hit strawberry samosas, were a no-show this year.

Also read: KLF 2016 - Everything you need to know about the Karachi Literature Festival

Parking solutions

This year, OUP has booked two parking spaces - the UBL parking space and the KPT parking area - for the visitors of Karachi Literature Festival. And they've introduced a new way to keep the main road a vehicle-free zone:

"We will have a shuttle running from the two designated parking areas to Beach Luxury Hotel, so people who drive themselves will have to park in either of the two designated parking areas, and then take the shuttle to the venue," Ameena Saiyed had said.

Session: The dilemmas of the transgender

Arfa Sayeda Zehra in conversation with Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, author of Me Laxmi, Me Hijra.

Me Hijra, Me Laxmi is an autobiographical account tracing the extraordinary journey of Laxmi, a hijra, who fought against tremendous odds.

How publishers bring out the best

Session: Making an artist

Mehreen Zuberi said: "It's unfortunate that galleries, which are places for selling art, are the only spaces for young artists to get exposure to different practices."

Book Launch: Cover Point: Impressions of Leadership in Pakistan

The author Jamsheed Marker and Ishrat Hussain spoke at the launch.

"At the end of thirty years of service, all sorts of thoughts come to mind. As they say, old men forget and I have forgotten quite a lot but not the things I wanted to forget. What I tried to place before you is the manner in which Pakistan's foreign service has conducted itself in the last 30-40 yrs," said Marker about the book.

Session: Fiction, Memory and Colonialism

One of the speakers at the session, Kamila Shamsie was of the view that the problem lies with our selective memory. We want to tell the history of Muslims in the subcontinent but forget what happened in Bangladesh.

Christoph Peters said that national history produces itself via mass media and there's both good and bad in that.

Referring to German identity that was vilified, he said that he thinks nationalism is one of the worst ideas.

Session: Italy reads Pakistan

Session: Art as a part of public engagement

Sessions on Day 1 began at 2:30pm. You can view the KLF schedule here.