Download The cultural capital to dazzle at the 9th ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival!

The cultural capital to dazzle at the
9th ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival!
Kolkata, January 6, 2016: The 9th edition of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival is hosting some of the
world’s greatest writers, thinkers, journalists, poets and novelists including heavyweights from Kolkata.
The city has long been known for its literary, artistic and revolutionary heritage, widely regarded as The
Cultural Capital of India.
Fittingly great figures of Indian literature from Kolkata will join writers from across South Asia and the
world at the greatest literature festival in India, the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival 2016 in January.
Navigating Modernity is a theme which carries through the festival this year. In Parivaar, Parampara aur
Parivartan, Alka Saraogi, part of the Marwari diaspora of Calcutta whose writings wander seamlessly
between present and the past delving into the ideas of identity and displacement joins Mridula Sinha and
Poonam Saxena. These three accomplished and iconic women writers speak of their narratives of
continuity and change within family and societal structures, and the sages of evolving and shifting
traditions.
The rich and varied theatre traditions of South Asia constantly surprise with their diversities, combining
folk and classical, regional and linguistic nuance. In a session around Indian Theatre Traditions a panel
introduced by Sanjoy Roy will explore a contemporary understanding of drama.
Anjum Katyal, editor, writer, translator and critic joins Marathi Theatre expert Makarand Sathe and poet
Jerry Pinto. Katyal’s most recent book, Badal Sircar: Towards the Theatre of Conscience, is the first fulllength study of the path-breaking playwright who brought theatre to the streets and the masses.
The city of stories, Kolkata has been the inspiration for countless literary works. Kunal Basu and Saikat
Majumdar have both located their new novels in the geographical and emotive landscape of Kolkata. In a
session of conversation and readings, they discuss their writing and the creative context of their Kolkata,
with novelist and critic, Nilanjana Roy.
Kolkata born Kunal Basu is the author of critically acclaimed novels including The Opium Clerk, The
Miniaturist, Racists, and The Yellow Emperor’s Cure. His new novel Kalkatta was published in November
2015. Kunal Basu was born in Kolkata and now teaches at Oxford University and lives in Oxford and
Kolkata.
Taking place from 21 to 25 January 2016 at the beautiful and historic Diggi Palace Hotel, the 9th ZEE
Jaipur Literature Festival will be a carnival of minds that will see the coming together of the best minds in
a global celebration of literature.
Other popular names set to appear at the festival in 2016 include India’s most beloved and prolific
storyteller Ruskin Bond; this year’s Man Booker Prize winner Marlon James; India’s most celebrated
psychoanalyst and author Sudhir Kakar; Stephen Fry, one of the world’s best known actors and
comedians; Hindi journalist, poet and novelist Uday Prakash, one of the leading figures in modern Indian
literature; Colm Tóibín, Ireland’s greatest living writer; poet, novelist and essayist Margaret Atwood;
French economist and global voice on wealth and income inequality Thomas Piketty; creator of one of the
landmarks of modern American literature Tales of the City Armistead Maupin; and activist and
writer Bant Singh, whose tragic and inspiring story of resistance to the atrocities he suffered as a Dalit
Indian is a story of empowerment as well as a mirror to the fault lines in a still feudal society.
- ENDS Please click here to download reference images
You may also download the Teamwork Arts app on iOS or Android for details on the Festival.
For press information, please contact Edelman India:
Surbhi Sharma
+91 9599067564
[email protected]
Muskaan Tandon
+91 9818694456
[email protected]
About the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival
The world’s largest free festival of its kind, the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival has been described as the
‘greatest literary show on Earth’. Celebrating writers from across the world, the Festival has hosted some
of the best regarded and loved names ranging from Nobel Laureates and Man Booker Prize winners to star
debuts including Amish Tripathi, Eleanor Catton, Hanif Kureishi, His Holiness the 14 th Dalai Lama, Ian
McEwan, JM Coetzee, Mohammed Hanif, Oprah Winfrey, Orhan Pamuk, Pico Iyer, Salman Rushdie, Vikram
Seth and Wole Soyinka, as well as renowned Indian language writers such as Girish Karnad, Mahasweta
Devi, MT Vasudevan Nair, Uday Prakash and UR Ananthamurthy.
Writers and Festival Directors William Dalrymple and Namita Gokhale invite authors from across the globe
to take part in the five-day programme set against a backdrop of Rajasthan’s stunning cultural heritage
and the Diggi Palace in the state capital Jaipur.
Equity and democracy run through the Festival’s veins placing some of the world’s greatest minds,
humanitarians, historians, politicians, business leaders, sports people and entertainers from all walks of
life on stage together. This free and egalitarian access to these renowned thinkers and writers is a
powerful statement in a country where access to such individuals remains a privilege of few. The ZEE
Jaipur Literature Festival provides a potentially life-changing opportunity for audiences from Rajasthan,
across India and the world to learn from and exchange ideas with contemporary literary stalwarts.
The Festival is a flagship event of Teamwork Arts, which produces over 25 highly acclaimed performing
arts, visual arts and literary festivals across more than 40 cities globally, and is produced by Sanjoy K.
Roy. Since 2014, JLF has spread its wings beyond the borders of India with weekend events at London’s
Southbank Centre in May and Boulder, Colorado in September.
Website: www.jaipurliteraturefestival.org
About Teamwork Arts
For over 25 years, Teamwork Arts has taken India to the world and brought the world to India.
In countries such as Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel, Korea,
Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UK and USA, Teamwork produces over 25 highly acclaimed performing arts,
visual arts and literary festivals across more than 40 cities.
Teamwork produces one of the world’s largest free literary gatherings, the annual ZEE Jaipur Literature
Festival, international festivals Shared History in South Africa, Eye on India in the United States of
America, India by the Bay in Hong Kong, and many more.
Website: www.teamworkarts.com