Described as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’, The Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) is all set to come back bigger and better with its 13th edition, slated to take place between January 23-27, 2020, set against the backdrop of Rajasthan’s stunning cultural heritage and the Diggi Palace in Jaipur. By Amitha Ameen
At last night’s curtain raiser event held at Taj Mahal, New Delhi, JLF announced its line-up of over 250 speakers including Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Christina Lamb, Dexter Filkins, Forrest Gander, Howard Jacobson, Javed Akhtar, Paul Muldoon, Prasoon Joshi, Shashi Tharoor and Stephen Greenblatt.
This year’s veritable power-house roster of speakers that include writers, thinkers, politicians, journalists and popular cultural icons from across a vast array of nationalities, like every edition, reflects the diversity of the festival’s programming in books, themes, subjects, and ideas representing literature and thoughts intrinsic to both India and the world.
Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, producer of the Jaipur Literature Festival, said, “The festival continues to build upon its core values of engaging young people, and creating a democratic and accessible platform, which offers free and fair access. The 2020 edition will feature a stellar line-up of award-winning Indian and international writers.”
The Delhi Curtain Raiser also saw a breathtaking poetic performance by popular poet Akhil Katyal followed by a musical performance by Anirudh Varma Collective. The occasion also saw the launch of festival co-director Namita Gokhale’s new novel, Jaipur Journals by Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts and William Dalrymple.
Writer and festival Co-Director William Dalrymple said, “We have an especially triumphant line-up in non-fiction with a world-beating roster of award-winning historians, biographers, memoirists and travel writers including our biggest haul of Pulitzer Prize winners ever with major international stars like Stephen Greenblatt, Dexter Filkins, Anand Gopal and Suketu Mehta. We also have an astonishing line-up of Booker-winning novelists including Howard Jacobson and John Lanchester, Leila Slimani from France and Elizabeth Gilbert from the US. We also much look forward to hearing our most talented ever pool of poets including Lemn Sissay, Simon Armitage, Forrest Gander and Paul Muldoon. Above all we’ll have a special focus on climate change with world-leading experts like David Wallace-Wells.”
For the complete list of 2020 speakers see here.
The Details
When: January 23-27, 2020
Where: Diggi Palace Hotel, Shivaji Marg, C-Scheme, Ashok Nagar, Jaipur, Rajasthan
Entry Fee: Free
How To Reach: Jaipur is accessible by flights from all the major cities. There are regular buses and trains available from Delhi to Jaipur. Trains also ply from Mumbai and Kolkata to Jaipur.
Related: Crash Course In What Makes Jaipur The Pink City: A Day In The City
