As the forthcoming 17th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival, scheduled to run from February 1 to 5 at Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur, draws near, Festival Producer Teamwork Arts presented a preview of the festival in New Delhi recently.
The literary extravaganza will see a range of linguistic diversity with sessions on 16 Indian and eight international languages.
The Indian languages include -- Assamese, Awadhi, Banjara language -- Lamani (Lambada), Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Kurukh, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sanskrit, Tamil, Toda and Urdu.
For its 2024 edition, the festival will host about 550 speakers and artists across a vast array of nationalities, as well as recipients of major awards such as the Booker, the International Booker, the Pulitzer, the Sahitya Akademi, Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, the JCB Prize for Literature, etc.
It will feature a range of themes, including Fiction & Non-Fiction, Literary Criticism, History, Politics & Current Affairs, Economics, Poetry, Art & Culture, Art & Architecture, Translation, Graphic Novels, Gender, Science & Medicine, Food & Memory, Biographies & Memoir, Mythology, Spirituality & Religion, Mental Health, Fashion & Lifestyle, Law & Justice, Geopolitics, Sports, Crime Fiction, Climate Change + Environment & Climate Justice, Pet Parents + Pets & Animals, Cities, Literary Icons Through The Ages, Bollywood & Cinema, among others.
Namita Gokhale, writer and co-director of Jaipur Literature Festival, said, "In this, our seventeenth year, we remain committed to the rich diversity of our multilingual literary heritage. We have writers from over twenty-five nationalities. Sixteen Indian languages shall be represented, including those from the evocative oral traditions. We explore a universe of ideas and themes -- mathematics to music, camels to cuisine, environment to economics, and fiction to faction."
"William Dalrymple, writer, historian, and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, said, "Every year we try and raise the bar at the Jaipur Literature Festival, but 2024 will be our finest festival yet. We are proud to present almost all the year's most celebrated writers from around the world: the greatest novelists and poets, environmentalists and investigative journalists, historians and biographers, scientists and economists, artists and art historians, travel writers and humourists, literary critics and philosopher-feminists: a free-flowing gathering of great literary minds and extraordinary thinkers that is like a global super symposium or mega university opening its gates for anyone who wants to attend for five whole days for free."
Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, who produce the Jaipur Literature Festival, said, "Embarking on Jaipur Literature Festival 2024, our vision is one of inclusivity, uniting the finest in literary excellence and fostering interdisciplinary conversations on a global scale. Our Festival proudly embodies pluralism, diversity and multilingualism, showcasing more than 24 languages, with 16 hailing from India. The 2024 edition continues our commitment to fundamental values, focusing on engaging the youth, creating a democratic and accessible platform, and ensuring free and equitable participation for all."