Jaipur Literature Fest is a one of its kind festival in the world since it is Asia’s biggest literary festival that is open to all. Just like last year, this year shall also compromise of four days of unexcelled writing. Headed by the directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple, it is the Diggi Palace Hotel’s grounds that normally serve as the main venue for the festival.
Having begun more than half a dozen years ago in 2006, the first edition of this festival saw just over a 100 people attending. An interesting trivia shared by Mr. Dalrymple was that quite a few of these attendees “appeared to be tourists who had simply got lost.” Be as it may, the event grew in size over the years and its stature is what it is right now. Even then, the world saw the fiesta come to light when it gained international media attention in 2012, over a couple of events that took place regarding Salman Rushdie and the banning of his works, most importantly his novel ‘The Satanic Verses’.
This year, the pink city is going to sparkle with many authors and their words. Jhumpa Lahiri, Jonathan Freeman, Shashi Tharoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Cyrus Mistry, Irrfan Khan, Amartya Sen, Jerry Pinto and Nicholas Shakespeare are a few speakers who are set to attend the festival. Music will also play a large role in the four days as there is a musical stage set to enthral the audience. If you still want to be a part of this, it is not too late. The tickets are obviously free, but registration is required: http://www.kyazoonga.com/Events/Concerts-DSC_Jaipur_Literature_Festival_2014/657/1#
Lucky guy Ushnav is lucky. This year he is attending the Jaipur Literature Festival and bet we are envious of him. He plans to live-tweet the events there. So, watch out!