‘Kumbh Mela of Literature’ begins in Jaipur

Jaipur, January 23: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot inaugurated the Jaipur Literature Festival, which is also called as ‘Kumbh Mela of Literature’ in Jaipur today. This is the 13th year of the festival.

 

A plethora of writers, poets and activists will be conversing on a range of topics from history to politics to artificial intelligence at the five-day literary extravaganza. JLF 2020 opened on the Front Lawn on a soft, wintry morning with the inaugural address, Each Other's Stories delivered by festival co-directors, Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple along with Sanjoy K Roy. This is followed by the keynote address, The Arts Sciences and Creativity presented by Hindustani classical vocalist Shubha Mudgal and author and mathematician, Marcus du Sautoy.

 

Addressing the inaugural session, the Chief Minister said that JLF is the pride of Jaipur. He said that people know the culture of Rajasthan through this literary festival. He said that this is the platform where people can share their views without any hesitation. Energy minister B D Kalla was also present in the function. About 500 speakers of different fields are participating in the festival, which is currently in its 13th year.

 

 

 

Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson has just come up with his new novel, Live A Little and in the session of the same name, he will be in conversation with Chandrahas Choudhury with has all the bearings of the author’s trademark style- profundity wrapped up in wit.

 

On Jan 26, Author, American Shakespearean and literary historian Stephen Greenblatt will talk with director Vishal Bhardwaj underscoring the relevance of the bard in the session, Tyrant,: Shakespeare on Politics.

 

In another session, Hitesh Shankar, Swapan Dasgupta, Saba Naqvi and Makarand R Paranjape will be in conversation with Pragya Tiwari, talking about the ideologies significance of Hindu nationalism. The session is titled Eyes Right: Awakening Bharatmata.

Nobel laureate Abhijit V Banerjee will be in conversation with Sreenivasan Jain at the session, Poor Economics: Fighting Global Poverty. Banerjee will talk about alleviation of poverty and the need to place their decision-making at the very centre of the process.

 

 

 

Described as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’, the Jaipur Literature Festival is a sumptuous feast of ideas. The past decade has seen it transform into a global literary phenomenon having hosted nearly 2000 speakers and welcoming over a million book lovers from across India and the globe. Every year, the Festival brings together a diverse mix of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders, sports people and entertainers on one stage to champion the freedom to express and engage in thoughtful debate and dialogue.