Jaipur Literature Festival Celebrates a Decade of Shaping India’s Conversation with a focus on ‘India at 70’

WHAT? Jaipur Literature Festival
WHEN? 19th - 23rd January, 2017
WHERE? Diggi Palace Hotel, Jaipur

#10YearsOfJLF – 2017 marks ten years of the Jaipur Literature Festival and its meteoric rise from a small gem of an idea to the world’s largest free literary festival, having hosted more than 1300 speakers and attracting more than 1.2 million footfalls over the past decade.

The Freedom to Dream: India at 70 – As a pioneering champion of literary debate and social dialogue, both Indian and international, a strong focus of JLF 2017 will be to celebrate one of the world’s largest democracies through the theme ‘The Freedom to Dream: India at 70’ and drive conversations around modern India in the context of its history and its future.

Delegate Packages – After a significant rise in Festival Delegate numbers in 2016, JLF is pleased to offer enhanced packages for those who wish to support the Festival and experience its magic, mingle with authors, interact with industry players, relax in the Festival Delegate lounge and enjoy the live music concerts and Festival Fringe events as part of the package.

General Registration – Online registration has opened and is free to all. There will continue to be an on the spot fee for those who do not register in advance.
Jaipur BookMark- The B2B arm of the Jaipur Literature Festival opens proceedings at Diggi Palace a day ahead on 18th January, placing industry networking and professional development at the heart of the action.

JLF 10@10 - #10Speakers10Weeks – To celebrate its 10 years, the Jaipur Literature Festival will announce 10 speakers every week over the period of 10 weeks every Tuesday at 6.00pm which started on 18th October. Stay tuned as we reveal the names of some of the world’s greatest writers and thinkers set to appear at JLF 2017.

Volunteers – Nearly 1700 individuals have applied to volunteer for JLF 2017. At the end of November, the Festival will announce the shortlisted candidates who will join a 400 strong ‘army’ of dedicated volunteers that ensure the seamless running of the Festival.

The Jaipur Literature Festival announced that its 10th edition will take place from 19th – 23rd January 2017, once again at its beautiful home of the historic Diggi Palace Hotel in Jaipur.

Frequently described as “the greatest literary show on Earth”, JLF will welcome over 250 authors, thinkers, politicians, journalists and popular culture icons, and expects audience numbers to surpass last year’s figure of 330,000.

Over the past decade, the Festival has evolved into one of the largest and most accessible cultural events on the planet. A true champion for culture, ideas and democracy, it strives to spur freedom of thought and expression through a dizzying range of diverse voices engaged in intellectual discourse across India and internationally. While as part of its ongoing celebration of the word, the Festival continues to serve and inspire those who cherish literature.

As seen in previous years, the 2017 edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival will partner with major Indian and global brands to continue with its high calibre of speakers and programming and enrich the audience experience.

For those looking to enjoy the Jaipur Literature Festival in the best way possible, the Festival Delegate packages are again available. 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.”

As part of the Festival’s ten-year anniversary celebrations, the Delegate package has been given a real boost as a thank you to those who have supported JLF over the years. In addition to existing facilities such as a dedicated Delegate Lounge, registration area, lunch at the Delegate and Speaker Lunch Area, access to the concerts and dinners at the Music Stage venue of Hotel Clarks Amer, the 2017 Festival Delegate package will include entry to two Festival Fringe events at a heritage monument, a ‘Delegates Only’ session and cocktail evening along with transport shuttle services between the Festival Hub of Diggi Palace and the Festival Fringe event and Music Stage venues.

In terms of programming, the Festival will make a concerted effort like every year to ensure that the multitude of Indian languages are showcased while its industry arm, Jaipur BookMark, focuses on the art of translation.

The fourth edition of JBM opens the Festival’s proceedings with a full day of programming on 18th January at Diggi Palace followed by special sessions at a dedicated venue at the Festival Hub from the 19th – 23rd 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.

For the first time, Jaipur BookMark 2017 will also invite budding authors to share a synopsis of their work, which will be assessed by a panel of literary agents, publishers and critics. Those shortlisted will be invited to take part in the New Writers' Mentorship Programme, a special one-on-one session for advice from industry experts.

NamitaGokhale, writer, publisher and Co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, says, “Ten years of books and ideas, readers and writers! A decade of showcasing writing from the Indian languages and connectivities across South Asia. In 2017, a special focus on translations and the pulse of world literatures. Ceaselessly celebrating the wonders of the dreaming mind, the Jaipur Literature Festival invokes the collective energy of our brilliant authors and extraordinary and engaged audiences.”

William Dalrymple, writer, historian and Co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, says, “Each year at Jaipur we try to produce a programme more remarkable than the year before, but 2017’s Jaipur list is certainly the most astonishing we have ever fielded. We have gathered talent from across the globe — from Jamaica to North Korea and Tasmania to Zimbabwe — to present writers of genius as diverse as the war correspondent Dexter Filkins , the economist Ha Joon Chang and the Italian aesthete, Sanskritist and polymath Roberto Calasso. We import some of the world's most admired playwrights and novelists, including Mark Haddon, David Hare and Man Booker Prize winners Alan Hollinghurst and Richard Flanagan as well as arguably the world's greatest living archaeologist, Barry Cunliffe. We deeply delve into areas of world literature we have so far failed to explore, notably the novelists and poets of the Caribbean, Turkey and Iran, while returning to examine eternal classics such as the work of Homer, Ferdowsi, Yeats, Nabakov and the Thousand and One Nights. We will explore a vast range of subjects from the history of scent to the rise of the Trilobites; biography from Jack the Ripper to Queen Victoria via Napoleon and Anne Boleyn; tales of the spice trade to the eruption of Krakatoa; we look at Jamaican rap and mediaeval mystic poetry and the art of screenwriting; we probe the reason for the Fall of Rome, the dilemmas facing Edward Snowden, KGB assassination techniques and the secrets of the Panama Papers; the agonies of Syria and the pleasures of Ottoman Istanbul as well as enjoying the decadent swagger of the Rolling Stones 1970 World Tour. It's going to be an incredible few days and I can't wait for January so that we can get started!”

For more information visit- www.jaipurliteraturefestival.org

Edited by- Debjani Hazarika