ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival announces first list of 60 speakers for 2018 edition

The annual ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival announced today that its 11th edition will take place from 25-29 January 2018, once again at its beautiful home of the historic Diggi Palace Hotel in Jaipur.

The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival which has often been described as the ‘greatest literary show on earth’ and the ‘Kumbh Mela of literature’ has hosted nearly 2000 speakers and welcomed over a million booklovers over the past decade, evolving into a global literary phenomenon. A true champion of literary and artistic traditions and democratic discourse, it encourages freedom of thought through a range of voices from India and abroad engaged in informed and enlightened dialogue and promotes above all a love for literature.

This year, the Festival will welcome over 250 writers, thinkers, politicians, journalists and popular cultural icons from over 35 different nationalities. It will feature a spectacular line-up of speakers representing the major awards including the Nobel, Man Booker, Pulitzer, Padma Vibhusan and the Sahitya Akademi Award. The first list of 60 speakers released today include Akhil Sharma, award-winning writer and creative writing professor; Amy Tan, author of the widely adapted book The Joy Luck Club; award-winning Indian film director and producer Anurag Kashyap, Indian art critic, art historian, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee, BN Goswamy; former president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai; English novelist and author of the iconic Bridget Jones Diary, Helen Fielding; Man Booker winner and author of The English Patient Michael Ondaatje; Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter from The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team Michael Rezendes; Sahitya Akademi Award winner Mridula Garg; 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laurate Mohammad Yunus, essayist and novelist Pico Iyer, best known for travel writing; New York Times bestselling poet and illustrator Rupi Kaur; Indian classical dancer and Padma Vibhushan awardee Sonal Mansingh; Indian philanthropist and writer Sudha Murty; Academy and Tony Award winning Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard; and Grammy Award winning tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, among others.

The discussions at the Festival will feature around works spanning both Indian and the international literary landscapes; translations will be under the spotlight too in a bid to reinforce a diverse and flavourful cultural matrix. The 2018 edition expects to welcome speakers representing over 15 Indian and more than 20 international languages.

As in previous years, the forthcoming edition of the Festival will partner with major Indian and global brands and host the highest calibre of speakers and curate an enviable depth in programming for its ever increasing and discerning audiences.

The Festival will open as usual with its B2B arm, Jaipur BookMark (JBM), now in its fifth edition, with a full day of programming on 24 January at Diggi Palace followed by sessions at a dedicated JBM venue at the Festival Hub from the 25-28 January. JBM continues to provide a platform for publishers, literary agents, translation agencies and writers to meet, talk business deals and listen to major industry players from across the world.

The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival sets literary conversations, debates and dialogue against the backdrop of built and cultural heritage including curated art installations, world music performances at the Music Stage and cultural evenings at heritage venues like the Amber Fort and Hawa Mahal.

While entry to the Festival is free and open to all, attendees can choose to purchase “Festival Delegate Packages” which offer a special experience of the Festival and will take them on a compelling cultural journey.

As a former Festival Delegate said, “A wonderful experience. As a delegate, I had the opportunity to meet people from all parts of the world and share our love of literature and writing. The concerts were amazing – the venue, music, food and people combined to create an unforgettable experience.”

In addition to enjoying the Festival programme, delegates get access to the Delegate Lounge, dedicated sessions, free entry to the Music Stage, invites to the special cultural evenings, official Festival merchandise, lunches and dinners with authors and fellow delegates, a cocktail evening and much more.

Namita Gokhale, writer, publisher and Co-director of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, says, “This is a vintage year for the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, with an amazing line up of international and Indian writers and multiple strands of thoughtfully curated sessions. A space to interrogate our changing times and to encounter poetry and the dreaming mind, the Festival returns with its unique brand of magic, whimsy and intellectual rigour.”

William Dalrymple, writer, historian and Co-director of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, says, “2018 may be the best Jaipur ever, fielding an unrivalled literary ‘First Eleven’ made up of star poets and acclaimed novelists, historians and biographers, thinkers and dreamers and scribblers and critics, genii and half the faculty of Harvard. It’s an astonishing line up and I can’t wait for the 25th of January to see it all become a reality.”

Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts who produce the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, said, “As we wait to celebrate yet another milestone year of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival in 2018, we look forward to the infectious energy of intellectual debate and the dynamism that charges the Festival’s atmosphere and comes from a mingling of celebrated minds, diverse perspectives, and heightened cultural experiences. What is heartening is that this incredible global phenomenon that the Festival has evolved into is still deeply rooted in its core identity as a completely accessible and democratic platform.”