No guests including Shaon will attend Humayun Ahmed conference in New York

None of the pre-announced guests will be able to attend the 5th Humayun Ahmed Literary and Cultural Conference to be held in New York. Writer and academic, Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam; poet and writer Lutfar Rahman Riton; writer and publisher Mazharul Islam; and chief coordinator of this year's event, Meher Afroz Shaon, were scheduled to be present as the chief guests. 

Showtime Music, the organiser company,  said that it has not yet been determined who will be the new guests.

Alamgir Khan Alam, owner of Showtime Music and coordinator of this year's conference,  told this reporter that Humayun Ahmed's wife, actress and vocalist Meher Afroz Shaon, could not come due to visa complications. Professor Manzoorul Islam is unable to participate due to university examinations. Riton cannot attend due to personal problems.

This year's event, as a result, is being held on a relatively small scale, with the hope of celebrating it on a grander scale next summer. 

Member secretary of this year's conference, writer Manjur Quader,  said that the inaugural and chief guests of the fair have not yet been finalised. No matter the guests, he said, the fair will hold the drama, novels, films and music of the fiction writer and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed as before.

Rallies, children's painting competitions, poetry recitations, commemorations, photo exhibitions, seminars, and stalls of local products, will be included in the event. The conference will be open to visitors.