Jaipur Literature Festival's curtain raiser promises a treat for book lovers

Come January and book lovers from across the country will make their way to Jaipur for the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF). Now in its 16th year, the festival will take place from January 19-23rd at Hotel Clarks Amer. At a preview held at The Leela Palace New Delhi on January 13, historian and Festival Co-Director William Dalrymple said: “It is the only global festival which is absolutely free. Anywhere else in the world you will pay a fortune for it.”   

“Every big award-winning writer who has won any major prize is coming this year to JLF. From uncovering the secrets of the world by presenting the world’s greatest novelists such as Abdulrazak Gurnah, Geetanjali Shree, Marlon James, every great writer is here. In non-fiction, we have got every major winner including the Pulitzer. We have writers focusing on Ukraine-Russia and India-China. And finally the British Empire – the slave trade, the loot of India. We are lifting the lid, to let out all the maggots in there,” he said.  

For the 2023 edition, JLF will host over 250 speakers from across a vast array of nationalities, as well as recipients of major awards such as the Nobel, the Booker, International Booker, the Pulitzer, the Sahitya Akademi, Baillie Gifford, PEN America Literary Awards, the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, the JCB Prize for Literature and many more. It will feature a range of themes including the ongoing climate justice debate, the great women writers and artists focusing on the female voice and identity, crime fiction, memoir, translation, poetry, economics, Russia-Ukraine conflict, violence of the British Empire, cutting-edge science, India at 75, remembering partition, geopolitics, art and photography, health and medicine, amongst others. 

“JLF is a free-flowing gathering of great literary minds that is like a global super university opening its gates for anyone who wants to attend for five whole days. It's going to be extraordinary and should not be missed!" added Dalrymple. 

This year, JLF will celebrate the diversity of language and literature like never before by conducting a panel discussion featuring International Booker Prize winner Geetanjali Shree in conversation with translator Daisy Rockwell and Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar recipient Tanuj Solanki for a session on Ret Samadhi: Tomb of Sand. At the session, the trio will discuss the nuances of language, translation, prizes and fame. 

As India celebrates its 75th Independence Day, it is also 75 years since Partition. Writer and oral historian Aanchal Malhotra's debut book, Remnants of a Separation, is a human history of the monumental event of the Partition of India, told by unearthing the stories lying latent in ordinary objects that the survivors had carried with them across the newly made border. Her recent, In the Language of Remembering, brings together conversations recorded over many years with generations of Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and their respective diaspora. At a session, Malhotra will be in conversation with the author of Partition Voices, Kavita Puri, where she reveals how the Partition is not yet an event of the past and its legacy is threaded into the daily lives of subsequent generations. 

On its ongoing association with JLF, Anuraag Bhatnagar, Chief Operating Officer, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts said: “The Jaipur Literature Festival is a prestigious event that has over the years found a pride of place in not just the country but the global social and cultural calendar…. We are extremely delighted to partner with this event for the second year to support and celebrate the passion and the spirit that resonates with our discerning guests.” 

 

Darlymple also said that he is looking forward to JLF in Rome. “There is huge love for India in Italy,” he said. JLF Rome is scheduled for June 2023.  It will take place at Maxxi, ‘one of the most exciting buildings in Europe’ as per Darlymple.   

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. 

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