N a well-moderated session, writer Afia Aslam introduced the audience, mostly comprising school students and friends of the panellists, to three young writers from Lahore, all of whom are waiting for their books to come out this year.

The session was fascinating because of Aslam`s questions and the enthusiasm and energy of the panellists. It started 20 minutes late as organisers tried to find a venue for it after rain made it impossible to hold it in the garden, the original venue. Panellist Anam Zakaria described it best when she quipped how apt it was that a session on aspiring writers was this chaotic before finally settling down.

Kanza Javed, the second writer on the panel, spoke eloquently about her novel, Ashes, Wine and Dust, shortlisted for the Tibor Jones South Asia Prize at the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2013. Haroon Khalid, the third panellist, whom Aslam called an overachiever since he has already started on his second book, has written a travelogue on the festivals of religious minorities in Pakistan. He has covered 19 festivals of five religious groups, including the Hindu and Christian communities as well as the smaller Bahai community.Zakaria has also written a travelogue, about travelling between India and Pakistan.

All three authors read from their books and discussed them. Javed said that she had used each of the things mentioned in her novel`s name to describe and represent the relevant period from the life of her protagonist, Mariam. `Ashes is her childhood, wine encapsulates her experiences in Washington DC and dust is when she has to return to Lahore following a tragedy that changes her life.

Khalid said that he had tried to explore what it was like being non-Muslim in Pakistan.

Zakaria said that she had traced and spoken to four generations of Indians and Pakistanis about their perception of Partition. `When I started working with the Citizens Archive of Pakistan, I spoke to many people from the Partition generation, many of whom told me stories of how Hindus and Muslims lived together in harmony. At the same time, I started working on the Exchange for Change project, where I saw young children with hostile opinions about each other.

So it was a quest for me to find out where the disconnect between these generations came from.` E Zainab Imam