For one last time, the historic Diggi Palace gears up to host the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), the biggest event in the country’s literary calendar. Currently, in its 13th edition, the festival will move to another location within the city next year, but for now, all eyes are on the 19th-century heritage venue.
Having recorded over 400,000 visitors in 2019, the five-day extravaganza will have over 250 speakers, including the likes of Pulitzer winners Forrest Gander and Stephen Greenblatt, 2010 Man Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson, Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee and renowned author Elizabeth Gilbert.
“Every year, we have various authors from different parts of the world, representing different nationalities and languages in attendance at the festival. This year, I believe we have succeeded in our efforts as stalwarts from over 20 countries and as many as 20 international and 15 Indian languages will be in attendance,” shares Namita Gokhale, writer, publisher and co-director of JLF.
Among the many new features of this edition (such as yoga sessions on the front lawns every morning), is their decision to be as sustainable as possible Festival producer Sanjoy K Roy, adds, “Another important theme we’ll be looking at is the Indian constitution, which turns 70 this year.
On the 26th, we’ll be reading the preamble as part of our ‘Heritage Events.’ We also have for the first time, a session dedicated to Textile Heritage, which will see Manish Malhotra in conversation with Ian King and Annick Shramme.”
An overriding theme this time is poetry, with sessions such as a discussion on Anthology of Great Indian Poems by Abhay K and ‘Poetry: Searching the sources,’ which will see Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Ashok Vajpeyi and Ranjit Hoskote in conversation with Ruth Padel. Also expect discussions such as ‘Big tech, surveillance capitalism, data harvesting and the cyber future’ (Marcus du Sautoy, John Lanchaster and Jaspreet Bindra in conversation with Akash Kapur).
Any pointers for visitors considering how overwhelming it could be for those attending the festival for the first time? “Download the programme on your phone and keep a watch online, because that’s where you will get all the latest updates. Definitely do not miss the market place and the food. Dress warm as it gets very chilly and keep in mind that often, the best conversations happen outside the sessions, in the cafes outside post sessions or in cars or bikes as you’re travelling back to your hotel,” he signs off.
When: January 23-27
Where: Diggi Gilbert Palace, Jaipur