JLF 2024: 550 writers, speakers, performers to represent 16 Indian, 8 foreign languages

Jaipur : Jaipur Literature Festival 2024, the literary extravaganza, will see over 550 writers, speakers, and performers representing 16 Indian and 8 international languages.

The Indian languages include Assamese, Awadhi, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Kurukh, Malayalam, Odia, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Sanskrit, Tamil, Toda, Urdu, and the Banjara language – Lamani (Lambada).

The Festival will feature some of the greatest literary minds this season, including Aarathi Prasad, National Geographic’s Regional Manager for Europe and Western Asia, an Honorary Research Fellow in Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London, and author of Silk: A History in Three Metamorphoses;

Ajay Jadeja, former India cricketer and commentator; Anand Neelakantan, author of the blockbuster 'Bahubali' trilogy, 'Asura: Tale of the Vanquished', and the Ajaya series among others; Anjan Sundaram, award-winning author of 'Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship' and 'Stringer: A Reporter’s Journey in the Congo', journalist and television presenter;

Ben Macintyre, author of 14 non-fiction history books, including 'Operation Mincemeat', 'A Spy Amongst Friends', 'SAS: Rogue Heroes', and most recently, 'Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle', all of which have been Sunday Times bestsellers;

Bonnie Garmus, novelist, copywriter, and creative director; Jan Michalski Prize for Literature-winning author Georgi Gospodinov; Gopal Krishna Gandhi, former Governor of West Bengal, author of the latest 'I Am an Ordinary Man: India’s Struggle for Freedom' (1914–1948) and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi;

Hernan Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author of 'Trust and In the Distance'; Jonathan Freedland, columnist, Orwell Prize-winning journalist, and author of 12 books, including 'The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World';

Katherine Rundell, author of 'Super-Infinite' (which won the Baillie Gifford Prize), and 'The Golden Mole' and 'Other Vanishing Treasure', both Sunday Times bestsellers; Katie Kitamura, award-winning author of the recent novel, 'Intimacies'; Nicholas Shakespeare, prize-winning British novelist of the recent and critically acclaimed biography of Ian Fleming;

Sital Kalantry, law professor and writer of 'Court on Trial'; Sonora Jha, professor of journalism and author of 'The Laughter and Foreign' (finalist for the Shakti Bhatt Prize, the Hindu Prize and long listed for the DSC Prize).

As the countdown started for the forthcoming Jaipur Literature Festival, scheduled to be held from February 1 to 5 at Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur, Teamwork Arts, Festival Producer, Sanjoy K. Roy, hosted a press conference on Tuesday to share the programme of the 17th edition of the iconic festival.

At the press conference, Teamwork Arts announced its ongoing programme in association with the Office of the Resident Commissioner of the United Nations and its endeavour towards a zero-waste and more sustainable Festival through a series of initiatives and partnerships, including Earth Day. The Festival will also aim to move towards a more carbon-neutral upcoming edition with its green partners.

Addressing the media, Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, said, “We welcome aboard our new strategic partner, Sanjay Agarwal and his family office, who will work collectively to create extensive arts properties and deliver value for the investors in arts.

“This year's Jaipur Literature Festival is set to captivate with its thought-provoking themes and stellar performances, boasting a line-up of 550 distinguished speakers and artists. We invite all booklovers to partake in this literary extravaganza in Jaipur, as together we endeavour to carve another significant chapter in the history of world literature.”

Sharing his thoughts, Sanjay Agarwal, MD & CEO, AU Small Finance Bank, said, “For years, the Jaipur Literature Festival has been a nexus for the world's foremost literary intellectuals. This collaboration is poised to reinforce and gain increasing relevance with each passing year. It is our firm belief that, guided by a shared vision, Teamwork Arts and my family office will steer the Festival towards unprecedented achievements.”

The conference also revealed some of the highlight sessions of South Asia’s most definitive publishing conclave, the prestigious Jaipur BookMark (JBM), which will run parallel to the Festival. This year, JBM will run for 5 days and showcase a plethora of interesting sessions featuring key stakeholders from the publishing world.