Kolkata: Jaipur Literature Festival 2022 is all set to begin from tomorrow. While the itinerary from March 5-9 includes events that will be held in a hybrid format, the events from March 10-14 will be conducted on-ground at Clarks Amer in the ‘Pink City’ in Rajasthan. This annual event is not just a literary show, but a unique opportunity that brings together authors, thinkers, entertainers, playwrights, academicians, journalists and even politicians on one platform for a free exchange of thoughts and ideas.
The past decade has seen this annual event transform into a global literary phenomenon having hosted more than 2,000 speakers and welcoming over a million book lovers from across India and the globe.
Known as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’, the 15th edition of Jaipur Literature Festival 2022 features an array of eminent speakers, with more than 400 speakers and performers representing around 15 Indian and 20 international languages and more than 20 nationalities. Winners of major literary awards ranging from the Nobel, the Booker, the Pulitzer, the Sahitya Akademi, the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, the JCB Prize for Literature will be attending the festival and sharing their views with the audience.
The festival will begin with inaugural addresses by festival co-directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple, festival producer Sanjoy K. Roy from Teamwork Arts.
‘Authors from around the world’
Gokhale said: “We are delighted to be returning in a hybrid format, on-ground and digitally, for an immersive and experiential celebration of heart, mind and intellect. Some of the greatest and most current writers and thinkers will join us, including Nobel Laureates Abdulrazak Gurnah, Daniel Kahneman, Giorgio Parisi and Abhijeet Vinayak Banerjee. We have award-winning authors from around the world, as well as intriguing new voices waiting to be heard, in a programme that reflects the rich diversity of India and the splendours of world literature.”
Celebrated author Dalrymple, commenting on the challenges facing this year's festival, said: “The pandemic has been a hard time for everyone, but literary festivals have faced existential challenges to their survival. Now we are back, and are thrilled to bring our beloved festival back to the hallowed soil of Jaipur.”
Journey across pioneering studies
The festival will feature some of the world’s most celebrated thinkers and writers. The 2021 Literature Nobel recipient Abdulrazak Gurnah will be in conversation with British publishing legend Alexandra Pringle at a session on a life in writing. Stellar Italian physicist who received the 2021 Nobel in Physics, Giorgio Parisi’s phenomenal work, In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonders of Complex Systems, is a journey across pioneering studies on particles, state transformations and ‘spin glasses’. In conversation with academic and Yale professor Priyamvada Natarajan, Parisi will discuss his exceptional research and book.
At another session, Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman will join New York Times best-selling author and academic Professor Olivier Sibony and legal scholar Cass R. Sunstein in explaining how and why humans are so susceptible to noise in judgement and what we can do about it. At another session, Nobel Prize–winning economist Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee will speak about the bonds of food and memory, friendship and community, across cultures and continents.
The Festival will also feature a conversation with Booker Prize-longlisted writer Anuradha Roy on her evocative body of work. Roy’s recent novel, The Earthspinner, is a searing exploration of the fragility of peace.
‘Continue with the free flow of knowledge and information’
“Jaipur Literature Festival was built on the philosophy of inclusivity, providing a space for all kinds of thoughts and ideas. While the world is still facing uncertainties, embroiled in war and reeling from a pandemic, we at Teamwork Arts are determined to continue the free flow of knowledge and information,” Roy, the managing director of Teamwork Arts, said.
