Dhaka: The seventh edition of Dhaka Lit Fest, an international literature festival, gets underway Thursday on the premises of Bangla Academy, aiming to create a bridge between native and international literary figures.

A press conference was recently held at the Shamsur Rahman Seminar Hall of the Bangla Academy to announce details of the the literature fest.

Organised by directors Sadaf Saaz, Ahsan Akbar and K Anis Ahmed, this year's fest line-up features Adonis, Ben Okri, Sir David Hare, Tilda Swinton, Lionel Shriver, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, William Dalrymple, Esther Freud, Syed Manzoorul Islam, Helal Hafiz, Imdadul Haq Milon and Kaiser Haq, among others.

Syrian-Lebanese poet Adonis, the greatest living poet in Arab world, will come to Bangladesh for the first time to open the literature fest. Sir VS Naipaul, a British writer and Nobel Laureate, who was born in Trinidad, opened the festival last year.

Organisers informed that over 200 speakers, performers and thinkers, representing 24 countries, will take part in the 3-day event with over 90 sessions with parallel sessions going on in both Bengali and English, which are free and open to all.

"One of great highlights of this year is the announcement of the winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature while the festival will launch the British literary journal Granta and host Gemcon Literary Awards, the highest monetary value literary prize in Bangladesh," said the organisers.

Dhaka Lit Fest is supported by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and hosted by Bangla Academy. Dhaka Tribune and Bangla Tribune are the Title Sponsors of the event, with BRAC Bank Ltd. as Key Sponsor.

Bangla Academy Director General Shamsuzzaman Khan, Dhaka Lit Fest directors Ahsan Akbar and Sadaf Saaz, Additional Secretary of Cultural Ministry Mashiur Rahman, Bangla Tribune's editor Zulfiqer Russell, Dhaka Tribune's literary editor Rifat Munim, Brac Bank's Head of Communications Zara Jabeen Mahbub, among others, were present at the press briefing.

Free online registration is open at www.register.dhakalitfest.com.