The literary extravaganza will see a range of linguistic diversity with sessions on 16 Indian and eight international languages…reports Asian Lite News
The Indian languages include — Assamese, Awadhi, Banjara language — Lamani (Lambada), Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Kurukh, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sanskrit, Tamil, Toda and Urdu…reports Asian Lite News
xxxx
As the forthcoming 17th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival, scheduled to run from February 1 to 5 at Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur, draws near, Festival Producer Teamwork Arts presented a preview of the festival in New Delhi recently.
The literary extravaganza will see a range of linguistic diversity with sessions on 16 Indian and eight international languages.
The Indian languages include — Assamese, Awadhi, Banjara language — Lamani (Lambada), Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Kurukh, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sanskrit, Tamil, Toda and Urdu.
For its 2024 edition, the festival will host about 550 speakers and artists across a vast array of nationalities, as well as recipients of major awards such as the Booker, the International Booker, the Pulitzer, the Sahitya Akademi, Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, the JCB Prize for Literature, etc.
It will feature a range of themes, including Fiction & Non-Fiction, Literary Criticism, History, Politics & Current Affairs, Economics, Poetry, Art & Culture, Art & Architecture, Translation, Graphic Novels, Gender, Science & Medicine, Food & Memory, Biographies & Memoir, Mythology, Spirituality & Religion, Mental Health, Fashion & Lifestyle, Law & Justice, Geopolitics, Sports, Crime Fiction, Climate Change + Environment & Climate Justice, Pet Parents + Pets & Animals, Cities, Literary Icons Through The Ages, Bollywood & Cinema, among others.
Namita Gokhale, writer and co-director of Jaipur Literature Festival, said, “In this, our seventeenth year, we remain committed to the rich diversity of our multilingual literary heritage. We have writers from over twenty-five nationalities. Sixteen Indian languages shall be represented, including those from the evocative oral traditions. We explore a universe of ideas and themes — mathematics to music, camels to cuisine, environment to economics, and fiction to faction.”
“William Dalrymple, writer, historian, and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, said, “Every year we try and raise the bar at the Jaipur Literature Festival, but 2024 will be our finest festival yet. We are proud to present almost all the year’s most celebrated writers from around the world: the greatest novelists and poets, environmentalists and investigative journalists, historians and biographers, scientists and economists, artists and art historians, travel writers and humourists, literary critics and philosopher-feminists: a free-flowing gathering of great literary minds and extraordinary thinkers that is like a global super symposium or mega university opening its gates for anyone who wants to attend for five whole days for free.”
Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, who produce the Jaipur Literature Festival, said, “Embarking on Jaipur Literature Festival 2024, our vision is one of inclusivity, uniting the finest in literary excellence and fostering interdisciplinary conversations on a global scale. Our Festival proudly embodies pluralism, diversity and multilingualism, showcasing more than 24 languages, with 16 hailing from India. The 2024 edition continues our commitment to fundamental values, focusing on engaging the youth, creating a democratic and accessible platform, and ensuring free and equitable participation for all.”
The band experiments with intricate genres in music like folk, trip-hop, jazz, and ambient textures and uses folk instruments as an essential part of their band…reports Sukant Deepak
As Jaipur prepares for the 17th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), the Jaipur Music Stage (JMS), which will run concurrently with the festival has unveiled its line-up of performers.
JMS will present a diverse array of artists from the Indian subcontinent including singer, songwriter, and poet Alif (Mohammad Muneem) will be performing on the first evening. He is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival Award for the single Lalnawat, IRAA Award for the single Like a Sufi, and the IIMA Award for ‘Best Folk Song’ – ‘Ride Home’.
The evening will also feature The Tapi Project, comprising Yogendra Saniyawala (acoustic & bass guitar, lyrics, composition), Swati Minaxi (voice), Gaurav Kapadia (drums) and Biju Nambiar (keyboards, bass, and drums).
The band experiments with intricate genres in music like folk, trip-hop, jazz, and ambient textures and uses folk instruments as an essential part of their band.
The second evening of JMS will feature Prabh Deep, a Delhi-based multi-faceted artist. While ‘Class-Sikh’ was a deeply autobiographical project, Deep showcased his ability to craft intricate and vivid narratives that spoke to larger audiences in subsequent releases. This can be seen on his ‘K I N G’ EP and his critically acclaimed ‘Tabia.’
The second evening will also feature a performance by The Revisit Project, a group that unravels the complexity and rigor of jazz with a distinctive and characteristic twist. Their music combines a solid groove, old-school funk, and rhythmic jazz.
The final evening will witness singer-songwriters Harpreet and Salman Elahi. Harpreet is a versatile artiste who sings original musical compositions in Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese, Rajasthani, and Haryanvi. Mumbai-based musician Salman Elahi writes and sings primarily in Urdu and Hindi, and believes in using his music to express his thoughts about life and self-discovery.
The evening will also showcase the band When Chai Met Toast (WCMT). The band consists of vocalist Ashwin Gopakumar, guitarist Achyuth Jaigopal, keyboard player Palee Francis, and drummer Pai Sailesh.
Since its inception in 2007, the festival has hosted nearly 5,000 speakers and performers, while drawing over a million book-enthusiasts from around the globe…reports Asian Lite News
The organisers of the annual Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) has announced the second list of speakers for the 17th edition of the festival set to take place from February 1-5, 2024 at Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur.
The second list of 25 speakers has a diverse mix that include Akhil Katyal, poet, translator, scholar and author of ’Like Blood on the Bitten Tongue: Delhi Poems’ and ’How Many Countries Does the Indus Cross’; Amia Srinivasan, academic and author of ’The Right to Sex’; Andrew Quintman, scholar in Buddhist traditions of Tibet and the Himalaya, and author of ’The Life of Milarepa’; Arundhathi Subramaniam, poet and Sahitya Akademi awardee; Bonnie Garmus, copywriter, creative director and debut novelist of ‘Lessons in Chemistry’; Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of best-selling books such as ’The Palace of Illusions’, ’The Forest of Enchantment’, ’The Last Queen’ and ’Independence’; Damon Galgut, Booker Prize winning novelist and playwright; Diana Evans, Orange Award winning novelist, journalist and critic; and noted poet, lyricist and scriptwriter Gulzar.
The list continues with Hernan Diaz, Pulitzer prize-winning author; Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize winning biographer, journalist and author; Katie Kitamura, journalist and art critic, and award-winning author; Kelly Dorji, Bhutanese actor, model and artist and the author of ‘The Hidden Rainbow’; Luke Syson, British museum curator and art historian and Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge; Justice Madan B. Lokur, former judge of the Supreme Court of India and Supreme Court of Fiji; Malcolm Turnbull, former Prime Minister of Australia; Maria Goretti, television presenter, actor and writer of the cookbook ‘From My Kitchen to Yours’; and Merve Emre, academic and writer of ‘The Annotated Mrs. Dalloway’.
The festival will also feature former Ambassador Navdeep Suri; Roger Cohen, Pulitzer and George Polk award recipient journalist; Sarnath Banerjee, graphic novelist, artist and filmmaker; Shumona Sinha, award-winning author of ‘Down with the Poor!’; Vincent Brown, academic and author of ‘The Reaper’s Garden: Death and Power in the World of Atlantic Slavery’; Vivek Shanbhag, author, editor and playwright; and Yascha Mounk, German-born American political scientist and author.
Since its inception in 2007, the festival has hosted nearly 5,000 speakers and performers, while drawing over a million book-enthusiasts from around the globe.
Jaipur Literature Festival announces a stellar line-up for its 2023 edition
The Festival will also feature some of the award-winning historians like Tom Holland, Alex von Tunzelmann, David Olusoga, Edward Chancellor, and Katy Hessel, amongst others…reports Asian Lite News
The legendary Jaipur Literature Festival, which honours the value of literature, is scheduled to take place from January 19 through January 23, 2023. For its 2023 edition, the literary extravaganza will celebrate the best in fiction, non-fiction, food, history, current affairs and politics, AI and technology, translations, poetry, adaptations and music, language, climate crisis, noir, identity, medicine and health, and cryptocurrency and economy at Hotel Clarks, Amer, Jaipur. The event will feature a prestigious host of speakers, authors, and humanitarians.
The final set of speakers, announced today, comprises some of the world’s best thinkers, writers, and speakers, including writer Akshaya Mukul; author Alka Saraogi; author Amia Srinivasan; publisher Ananda Devi; Pulitzer-Prize winning author Caroline Elkins; academic David Wengrow; 2022 Hasselblad Award recipientDayanita Singh; member of Lok Sabha Feroze Varun Gandhi; Indian Monk and the winner of the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Award, Gaur Gopal Das; flute maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia; scriptwriter, lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar; author Jonathan Freedland; award-winning correspondent for The Guardian Luke Harding; academic and author Maryam Aslany; author Merlin Sheldrake; CEO of cult.fit Mukesh Bansal and Co-Founder and Chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited Nandan Nilekani.
Why you can’t miss the Jaipur Literature Festival 2022.(photo:IANSLIFE)
The much-anticipated list goes on to mention filmmaker Onir; historian and writer Orlando Figes; 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism Literature and Creative Communications Arts P Sainath; Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award and the JLF Mahakavi Kanhaiya Lal Sethia Awardee Ranjit Hoskote; historian and academic Ruth Harris; economist and writer Sanjeev Sanyal; author and practising senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal; author and politician Shashi Tharoor; Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction,Siddhartha Mukherjee; internationally bestselling author Simon Sebag-Montefiore; writer and rapper Sumit Samos; author Toby Walsh; Director of the V&A, the world’s leading museum of art, design and performance Tristam Hunt; renowned pop singer Usha Uthup; writer Vidya Krishnan; political scientist Yascha Mounk; and translator of the winning novel of JCB prize for Literature 2022, Baran Farooqi.
The Festival will also feature some of the award-winning historians like Tom Holland, Alex von Tunzelmann, David Olusoga, Edward Chancellor, and Katy Hessel, amongst others.
The previously announced list of speakers includes eminent journalist, writer and translator Arunava Sinha; Sahitya Akademi Award winner Aruna Chakravarti; award-winning writer Ana Filomena Amaral; leading bi-lingual editor, writer and translator Manisha Chaudhry; Padmabhushan awardee Mridul Kirti; and former diplomat Navdeep Suri.
The 2023 edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival will offer an immersive experience of literature, discourse, musical performances, art installations, merchandise, local cuisine and more to all art, literature and culture enthusiasts gathered to bask in the glory of the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’. Celebrating the uniting power of language, the Festival will provide an inclusive platform to all Indian and multiple foreign languages with sessions spread across 5 venues with over 250 speakers.
Described as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’, the Jaipur Literature Festival is a sumptuous feast of ideas…reports Asian Lite News
Scheduled from 5th – 14th March 2022, the Jaipur Literature Festival is all set to return with its 15th edition with Women in Power being one of its highlights. Taking ahead the legacy, the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’ will celebrate trailblazing women who have broken barriers and forged their own paths through a diverse set of sessions.
The rich programme will feature, among others, a session that explores the boundless sacred feminine. The panel will be graced by award-winning author and poet Arundhathi Subramaniam, author of the remarkable book Women Who Wear Only Themselves: Conversations with Four Travellers on Sacred Journeys; art historian, curator, and author of Shakti: 51 Sacred Peethas of the Goddess Alka Pande who has worked extensively in the fields of gender identity, sexuality, and the traditional arts; and renowned academic and author Malashri Lal who has produced defining literature on women, gender, and the interpretations and manifestations of the feminine including In Search of Sita: Revisiting Mythology with Namita Gokhale.
Versatile writer and entrepreneur Koral Dasgupta, author of the Sati Series; historian and author of Song of Draupadi Ira Mukhoty; and author of bestselling novel Valmiki’s Women: Five Tales from the Ramayana Anand Neelakantan will get together to pay tribute to the women of the great epics, as they argue, plead, reason and assert, rising from the embers of myth, legend, and sacred texts that often focus only on heroic men. Moving on from historical fiction, medieval historian Katherine Pangonis, will discuss her latest book Queens of Jerusalem with Ira Mukhoty. The session will see them dissect the trailblazing women of the Crusades who were not passive transmitters of land and blood but formidable leaders with political agency and aspirations, integral to diplomacy, military strategy and even rebellion. Afghan-Canadian singer, media personality and women’s rights activist Mozhdah Jamalzadah is among the most powerful voices of her generation. In the session Voice of Rebellion: How Mozhdah Jamalzadah Brought Hope to Afghanistan, Mozhdah Jamalzadah will discuss her biography of the same name by Roberta Staley, and the power of dissent with journalist Jyoti Malhotra. Author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape Sohaila Abdulali; journalist and policy and culture consultant Pragya Tiwari; and author of India Moving: A History of Migration and Age of Pandemics.
(1817-1920): How They Shaped India and the World Chinmay Tumbe will evaluate the mobilisation of domestic violence shelters, organisations, helplines, and the governmental and social response to this insidious threat in conversation with social entrepreneur Amita Nigam Sahaya. In a session of readings and conversations, writer, poet, translator and activist, Meena Kandasamy will take the audience along on an arduous journey navigating through the dimensions of self, politics and gender. This Poem Will Provoke You will observe a vibrant and scintillating conversation between Kandasamy and Manasi Subramaniam, Executive Editor at Penguin Random House, where they will speak of the weight of words, beliefs, ideologies and the space in-between. Eminent author and journalist Lisa Taddeo’s debut novel, Animal, is a provocative exploration of female rage fuelled by male violence and savagery. In conversation with Ajio Luxe’s editor-in-chief Supriya Dravid, Taddeo will discuss the raw embers of female rage in a male-dominated society and the precarious intertwining of violence and memory.
Some legendary names set to feature in this year’s Festival include one of the biggest names in Indian journalism, iconic journalist Barkha Dutt; novelist and disability rights activist C.K. Meena; award-winning British-Turkish novelist and the most widely read woman author Elif Shafak; former CEO and Chairperson of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi; mother-daughter duo Nayantara Sahgal and Gita Sahgal; Deputy Executive Director of UN Women Lakshmi Puri; Hindi feminist author Mamta Kalia, who writes primarily on the lived experiences of rural, middle-class women; celebrated author of over twenty books and Jaipur Literature Festival Co-director Namita Gokhale; multiple award-winning translator, writer and literary historian Rakhshanda Jalil; feminist publisher and writer Ritu Menon, author of the ground-breaking text Borders and Boundaries: Women in India’s Partition; former television actress and current Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Govt. of India, Smriti Zubin Irani, author of her debut-novel Lal Salaam in a varied set of sessions, highlighting the many aspects of womanhood in today’s world.
Described as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’, the Jaipur Literature Festival is a sumptuous feast of ideas.
The past decade has seen it transform into a global literary phenomenon having hosted over 2,000 speakers and welcoming over a million book lovers from across India and the globe.
Our core values remain unchanged: to serve as a democratic, non-aligned platform offering free and fair access.
Every year, the Festival brings together a diverse mix of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders and entertainers on one stage to champion the freedom to express and engage in thoughtful debate and dialogue.
Writers and Festival Directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple, alongside producer Teamwork Arts, invite speakers to take part in the five-day programme set against the backdrop of Rajasthan’s stunning cultural heritage and the Diggi Palace in the state capital Jaipur.
Past speakers have ranged from Nobel Laureates J. M. Coetzee, Orhan Pamuk, Malala Yousafzai, Muhammad Yunus and Joseph Stiglitz; Man Booker Prize winners Ben Okri, Douglas Stuart, Margaret Atwood and Paul Beatty; Sahitya Akademi winners Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, M. T. Vasudevan Nair, as well as the late Girish Karnad, Mahasweta Devi and U. R. Ananthamurthy; along with literary superstars including Amish Tripathi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Vikram Seth. An annual event that goes beyond literature, the Festival has also hosted Amartya Sen, Amitabh Bachchan, the late A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Bill Gates, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Oprah Winfrey, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Stephen Fry, Thomas Piketty and former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai.
The Jaipur Literature Festival is a flagship event of Teamwork Arts, which produces it along with over 25 highly acclaimed performing arts, visual arts and literary festivals across more than 40 cities globally.
For over 30 years, Teamwork Arts has taken India to the world and brought the world to India, presenting the finest of Indian performers, writers and visual artists in the cultural and art space in India and abroad.
Every year, it produces over 25 performing, visual arts and literary festivals in several countries including Australia, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, the UK and USA, as well as many eclectic festivals across India. It produces the world’s largest literary gathering: the annual Jaipur Literature Festival; JLF international now travels to the US, UK, Canada, Qatar and Australia.
Even amidst the upheaval and unsettling times of 2020, Teamwork Arts successfully launched the digital series, JLF Brave New World and WORDS ARE BRIDGES, which were viewed by over 4.8 million people in their first season. Through its digital avatar, the Jaipur Literature Festival reached over 19 million viewers in January 2021 and brought together the world’s leading commentators and writers. The musical extravaganza, Bollywood Love Story – A Musical, continues to tour the world with sold-out shows everywhere it is held.
The festival will include a session that explores both the sensual allure of the human body and the fundamental ambiguities of its representation…reports Asian Lite News
The 15th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival will take place between March 5-14, 2022, in its home city of Jaipur. Each year, Teamwork Arts, the festival’s producer, promotes art and world heritage through a variety of innovative initiatives at the festival. This year’s festival will also include a variety of sessions highlighting various aspects of art and culture.
Sohini Roychowdhury, a Bharatanatyam exponent, and Sharon Lowen, a renowned dancer of Indian classical dance forms — Odissi, Manipuri, Mayurbhanj, and Seraikella Chhau — will join Manjari Sinha, acclaimed music and dance critic, for a fascinating discussion on Sringara, exploring the evocative and evolutionary form. The session will look at the long history and various interpretations of Sringara, an aesthetic peak that is often regarded as the mother of all nine rasas in Indian dance.
Intriguing and vivacious stage personality Dolly Thakore, whose autobiography defies categorisation, has described her life with piercing honesty. Regrets, None, co-written with Arghya Lahiri, who has 20 years of theatre experience, is a humorous, witty, and candid look at Dolly’s eventful life. Ritu Menon, a feminist, publisher, and author, has written a theatrical biography of the remarkable actor and dancer Zohra Sehgal, who lived a full life until the age of 90. Menon explains how dancer Uday Shankar and actor Prithviraj Kapoor’s creativity influenced Sehgal. Thakore, Menon and Lahiri will discuss the essence of theatre, its genius, magic, and pervasive misogyny in conversation with Festival Producer and Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, Sanjoy K. Roy. Roy will also be in conversation with well-known Indian singer and musician Remo Fernandes during a session that will explore his pursuit of his greatest love: music, art, writing and his homeland Goa.
The festival will include a session that explores both the sensual allure of the human body and the fundamental ambiguities of its representation. Ambarish Satwik, a writer, commentator, and vascular surgeon, reflects on the distance between the naked and the nude in the anatomy of our race, even as modern imaging technologies render us asexual and transparent.
Alka Pande, a celebrated writer, curator, and historian, has examined the erotic from a variety of perspectives in her work. Pha(bu)llus, her most recent book, investigates the power of phallic symbolism as a key and recurring motif in religion, culture and art. They will talk about art and the nature of the erotic, as well as the anti-nude, in the context of the sensuous, mortal, philosophical and spiritual.
Farrukh Dhondy, a writer, screenwriter, and activist, has as many fascinating life experiences as professional accolades. Dhondy’s life is a cinematic rollercoaster, from bearing witness to pre-independence India, the Partition, and many a social movement to meeting a roster of eclectic, and even murderous, celebrities. Dhondy will discuss his life as a writer in conversation with film and theatre director Arghya Lahiri.
‘JLF London at the British Library’ had a very successful curtain-raiser in June. With 2020 struck by the cloud of a global pandemic, the Festival was postponed from its customary summer dates…reports Asian Lite News.
As the world works through a new “normal” this year, Teamwork Arts, the producer of the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival, and the British Library, bring to you a virtual edition of the annual JLF London, with the magnificent piazza of the British Library replaced by the boundless possibilities of the internet.
Everything else remains the same – the magic of discourse, the caravan of ideas, the camaraderie of people, and the seamless flow of knowledge.
‘JLF London at the British Library’ had a very successful curtain-raiser in June. With 2020 struck by the cloud of a global pandemic, the Festival was postponed from its customary summer dates.
The much-awaited JLF London at the British Library now opens virtually tomorrow with a stellar list of leading speakers from across the globe engaging in intellectual and literary discourse. Scheduled from 24th-26th September 2021, the eighth edition of the annual Festival will explore an array of topics relevant to the contemporary world, maintaining the magnitude of programming as every year.
In the inaugural session, the audience will be addressed by Festival Co-directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple, Festival Producer Sanjoy K. Roy, and Head of Culture and Learning, British Library, Jamie Andrews.
JLF London will be in an entirely new avatar this year with a mix of special on-ground and virtual sessions. The rich programming includes some of the most sought-after speakers, including Asma Khan, Cat Jarman, Edmund Richardson, Elif Shafak, Makarand R. Paranjape, Rory Stewart, Saad Mohseni, Swapan Dasgupta, Tahmima Anam, Vir Sanghvi and many more, sharing their stories and ideas.”, Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director, Teamwork Arts, and Festival Producer said.
Namita Gokhale, award-winning author, publisher and Festival Co-director shared, “JLF returns to the British Library in a hybrid format. The rich diversity of our programming will as ever open windows to many worlds. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Republic of India, and this reflects in our themes and sessions, as we celebrate books, ideas and dialogue.”
“JLF London is by far the most wonderful and eagerly anticipated literary festival. In these times, it’s a celebration of life and resurgence of the human spirit overcoming the adversities and traumas of the past two years! The spirit of the Festival in its hybrid form is fabulously innovative and makes authors and lovers of literature believe and hope in the future. It makes our hearts rise with sheer joy and happiness. JLF London is a symbol of hope!” said Moin Mir, who will be speaking at the Festival.
Journalist @virsanghvi 's ‘A Rude Life’ can be described as a mix of politics, glamour, food & all things rude. In this session, Sanghvi, in conversation with @namitabhandare , navigates through the formative years of his career, & the characters he met along the way. pic.twitter.com/jkGXSm7qPC
JLF London at the British Library, an annual celebration of books, creativity, dialogue and diversity, brings South Asia’s unique multilingual literary heritage to life in the heart of London. This year, the Festival will be hosted on an exclusive virtual platform. To register for the sessions, please click here.
