With easy rail, air and road links to Jaipur we hope you have booked your rooms and registered to enjoy the annual celebration of literature that is the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival running between 21 and 25 January.
The world class programming of the Festival reflected in the list of speakers slated to attend the Festival in January including India’s most beloved and prolific storyteller Ruskin Bond; this year’s Man Booker Prize winner Marlon James; India’s most celebrated psychoanalyst and author Sudhir Kakar; Stephen Fry, one of the world’s best known actors and comedians; Hindi journalist, poet and novelist Uday Prakash, one of the leading figures in modern Indian literature; Alka Saraogi, Hindi novelist and short story writer; Colm Tóibín , Ireland’s greatest living writer; poet, novelist and essayist Margaret Atwood; French economist and global voice on wealth and income inequality Thomas Piketty; creator of one of the landmarks of modern American literature Tales of the City Armistead Maupin; and activist and writer Bant Singh, whose tragic and inspiring story of resistance to the atrocities he suffered as a Dalit Indian is a story of empowerment as well as a mirror to the fault lines in a still feudal society.
You can see the full detail of this programme on the Festival’s website www.jaipurliteraturefestival.org and on you can track updates on the Festival’s new mobile app available for Apple and Android devices.
The app will place in your hands and offline the programme, background on the speakers, a schedule, maps of the Diggi Palace site, information on registration, contests and additional information on the leading B2B literary and publishing event, the Jaipur BookMark.
Audiences joining us in Jaipur for the world’s largest free literary festival should ensure they register before the Festival starts, either online or at the Festival registration on site in Jaipur between January 17-20th until 9 pm to make entry to the site as smooth and easy as possible. Audiences can also choose to register as delegates for additional benefits and access including the opportunity to rub shoulders with authors and speakers over lunches and dinners, access to concerts at the music stage, great rates at local hotels, an invitation to the Writers’ Ball and networking with publishing industry professionals. It is still possible to register as a delegate with a pre-festival rate available until 20 January.
In order to effectively manage crowds and ensure an engaging and meaningful experience for the thousands of literature enthusiasts that descend on Jaipur in January, the Festival is introducing a nominal on-the-spot registration fee of Rs.100/ on the days of the Festival i.e. January 21st to 25th. Online and on ground registration will be available at the Festival venue, Diggi Palace, from January 17th to January 20th, free of cost. Please register in advance to avoid disappointment and for easier access print out your registration form and carry it with you.
A special session on sports titled India at Play will see Suresh Menon, Anil Kumble, Ronojoy Sen, Baichung Bhutia and Sidin Vadukut gather to discuss the history of sport and the current state of play from the national obsession with cricket to other popular sports from football to wrestling, and boxing to polo. Come and hear directly from iconic cricketer Anil Kumble and legendary footballer Baichang Bhutia about the fierce passions their sports ignite.
And don’t miss Karan Johar, blockbusting film director, screenwriter, actor and television personality reminiscing about his childhood and how he came to enter the film industry with his biographer Poonam Saxena in An Unsuitable Boy.
And there are still one or two more surprises up the Festival’s sleeves so stay tuned and get yourself to Jaipur to be sure you don’t miss out on the big talking points of this year.
Delegates enjoy opportunities to rub shoulders with authors as well as access to meals, music concerts, great rates at the local hotels, and other perks. Information is available on the website.
Setting the agenda for international dialogue, the programme for the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival 2016 will touch upon a multitude of ideas and themes including the age old, yet highly topical issue of Migration and Partition examining alienation and acceptance, across political, cultural and geographical landscapes. Highlighting the dynamics of the rapidly changing world around us will be sessions on Navigating Modernity – timely as we find ourselves at a crossroads as societies, customs, traditions and knowledge systems develop. And the evolving modern issues around Privacy will also feature prominently in a series of sessions curated by Homi K Bhabha.
Given the international demographic of both the Festival’s visitors and speakers, title sponsor ZEE Entertainment continues to support the festival, fitting well with their vision, ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (The World is My Family). Other returning partners include the Venue Partners –Mahindra Humanities Centre and Series Partner – The Indian Quarterly, Series Partners – The Aga Khan Foundation and supporters YPO, Penguin and Ambit. Continuing their longstanding support of the festival are the Jan Michalski Foundation, The Glenlivet, Kingfisher and Full Circle, who will manage the Festival Bookstore.
This year, the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival is powered by Airtel, bringing fresh support to its objective making literature accessible for all, alongside Reckitt Benckiser’s Dettol Banega Swacch India which comes on board as a Cause Partner, Healthcare Partners Narayana Health, and Series Partners The Getty Foundation and State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur.
Namita Gokhale, writer, publisher and co-director of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, said “It’s that time of year again! We welcome all the book lovers who, year after year make the ZEE Jaipur literature festival the success it is, to another extraordinary edition of this celebration of books, ideas and dialogue. Do spread the word and please register well in time. See you soon at Diggi Palace!”
William Dalrymple, writer and co-director of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, said “Each January the excitement of what we are about to experience in Jaipur mounts. Never more so than this year with what is possibly our finest line up ever.”
Sanjoy K. Roy, Director of Teamwork Arts, producers of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, said “All roads lead to Jaipur as people come together to celebrate literature and ideas and enjoy the winter sun in one of the world’s most charming cities.”
Disclaimer: Press Release.
