Planning for the Jaipur Literature Festival?

The clock is ticking, the pages are turning, the mother of all lit events, the Jaipur Literature Festival 2013, is almost here. It’s that time of the year when all your favorite authors from across the world will come together under one roof, which in this case happens to be a palace. The elegant heritage property of Diggi Palace in Jaipur will transform into a literary Kumbh Mela as writers, readers, publishers, journalists, the literati, the glitterati and the chatterati, will all gather to talk, engage and listen into the new as well as time-tested trends of fact and fiction.

As the sixth edition of the five-day literary extravaganza opens on 24^th January, 2013, let’s take a quick look back into what began as a humble festival a few years ago and turned into this world famous phenomenon.

Chetan Bhagat at JLF 2012 | Photo Credit: Abhishek Mishra

First the Facts

One look at the numbers and it’s obvious why JLF is called Asia’s leading literary festival. With 135 panels, debates, readings and discussions spread across six venues, the festival recorded a mind-boggling visitor registration of 75,000 in 2012. Fifteen per cent of these were foreigners traveling to India. Some of them planned their trips especially around the festival.

While Oprah Winfrey’s presence and Salman Rushdie’s absence at the festival created a huge stir last year, grabbing plenty of media attention, few people know that had Rushdie come in, it would have been his second time at JLF. He first participated in one of the earliest editions of the festival in 2007 when it was a much smaller and more intimate affair.

The Author Story

Some of the other noted writers who have marked their presence at the festival over the years are Booker Prize winners Michael Ondaatje, Kiran Desai, Ian McEwan and Ben Okri; Nobel Prize winners Orhan Pahmuk and J.M. Coetzee; and other favorites who need no introduction including Vikram Seth, Prasoon Joshi, Gulzar and Javed Akhtar amongst an endless list.

Gulzar & Prasoon Joshi at JLF 2012 | Photo Credit: Abhishek Mishra

While it’s easy to get starstruck and follow your favorite writer till dizzying crowds do you part, it might be a better idea to skip the obvious. The lit fest is more about exploring uncharted territory, meeting new authors, forming new ideas, finding new favorites. It’s not just for literature lovers. It’s for thinkers. It’s for doers. It’s for talkers. It’s for listeners. The festival has something for everyone, but only if you read between the lines. It’s a platform that gives equal space to discussions around queer literature, Arab Spring, Bhakti poetry, travel writing, Maoist movement, prison narratives, chicklit bestsellers, world politics, cricket, music and Bollywood.

So at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2013, make a judicious pick for what you choose to attend and watch this space for a guide on authors you must meet and sessions you must not miss.