JAIPUR: India’s most-awaited literary festival kicks off on Thursday in Jaipur with a keynote address by Girish Karnad. Over the next four days
stars from the world of literature will read from their books as well as discuss issues ranging from Osama bin Laden to the economic recession.
Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka heads the list of writers who will be present at the festival. On Thursday, he will be in conversation with Harvard academic Henry Louis Gates Jr.
“Besides showcasing the best of Indian-language and English writing from India, this year the festival will be importing a Nobel laureate, a winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, two Booker winners and five winners of the Pulitzer prize for literature, as well as leading writers from the world of history, biography, literary criticism, and travel, in addition to the stars of the world of fiction and the novel,” said William Dalrymple, festival director.
Among those who will be there at Jaipur are Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, Niall Ferguson, Alexander McCall Smith, Romesh Gunasekara, Amit Chaudhuri, Geoff Dyer, Vikram Chandra, Mahasweta Devi, Steve Coll, Lawrence Wright and Gulzar. There will be a strong Pakistani contingent which includes Hanif Kureishi, Ali Sethi and H M Naqvi. The festival, in its fifth year, has kept growing bigger. Over 12,000 people attended last year’s festival. Around 30% were international guests, 30% from Indian metros and the rest from Jaipur itself.
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