Zee Jaipur Literature Festival

all book lovers, we too are eagerly looking forward to the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival. What has us even more excited is the presence of Siyahi’s authors in the line-up.

We have beloved children’s writer Paro Anand bringing out the wild child in all of us. Author and noted translator Navtej Sarna will discuss the heart-wrenching stories that the Partition gave birth to, and the plurality of writing in Indian languages.

Former diplomat Pavan Varma will be in his element as he discusses the highs and lows of democracy. Along with other panelists, he will examine what we mean by an ‘Indian way of thinking’. His interest in mythology and religion will be given free rein in his session on Krishna.

We also have our very own Mita Kapur, founder of Siyahi, leading discussions on the state of publishing in a digital world. She will attempt to decipher the contemporary South Asian reader, and discover the reading habits of published authors. She will also be in conversation with the versatile Jerry Pinto, and two powerful women authors, Geetanjali Shree and Buket Uzuner.

And our list wouldn’t be complete without Siyahi author Namita Gokhale, director of Jaipur Literature Festival, and a founder-director of Siyahi. Be sure to pick up a copy of her edited anthology, Travelling In, Travelling Out.

The sessions to look out for are:

 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Friday, January 17, 5PM – 6PM, Google Mughal Tent

Homi Bhabha, Martin Puchner introduced by Namita Gokhale. Dramatic enactment by Suhel Seth (Presented by Mahindra Humanities Centre)

 

WRITING, MERI JAAN

Saturday, January 18, 10AM – 11AM, British Airways Baithak

Jerry Pinto in conversation with Mita Kapur (Bhaskar Bhasha Series)

 

BURDENS OF IDENTITY

Saturday, January 18, 11.15AM – 12.15PM, Front Lawns

Zeruya Shalev, Salma, and Namita Gokhale in conversation with Antara Dev Sen (Presented by Embassy of Israel)

 

BIBLIOMANIA

Saturday, January 18, 12.30PM – 1.30PM, Mahindra Humanities Center Durbar Hall

Nadeem Aslam, Cyrus Mistry, Carsten Jenson introduced by Mita Kapur (Presented by Rajasthan Patrika)

 

BHASHA PARIBHASHA

Saturday, January 18, 2.15PM – 3.15PM, Char Bagh

Vaidehi, Sachin Kundalkar, C.P. Deval, Gajra Kothari moderated by Navtej Sarna (Bhaskar Bhasha Series)

SAVAGE HARVEST

Sunday, January 19, 12.30PM – 1.30PM, British Airways Baithak

Navtej Sarna in conversation with Urvashi Butalia (Presented by Rajasthan Patrika)

THE ROOF BENEATH THEIR FEET

Sunday, January 19, 3.30PM – 4.30PM, Mahindra Humanities Center Durbar Hall

Readings: Geetanjali Shree, Buket Uzuner introduced by Mita Kapur (Presented by Embassy of Turkey)

RAJ AUR SAMAJ: DEMOCRACY AND THE PEOPLE

Sunday, January 19, 5PM – 6PM, Front Lawns

Kalyani Shankar, Navin Chawla and Pavan Varma in conversation with Ravish (Democracy Dialogues)

THE BLUE GOD: CONVERSATIONS ON KRISHNA

Monday, January 20, 11.15AM – 12.15PM, Google Mughal Tent

Kaajal Oza Vaidya with Meghnad Desai in conversation with Pavan Varma (Presented by Rajasthan Patrika)

WILD CHILD: BOOKS AND YOUNG ADULTS

Monday, January 20, 12.30PM – 1.30PM, Ford Samvaad

Paro Anand

DISPLAY TO DISCOVERY

Monday, January 20, 3PM onwards, Narain Niwas

 Anuj Bahri, Paul Yamazaki and Vivek Tejuja in conversation, moderated by Mita Kapur

GEOGRAPHIES OF READING: CONTEXTING THE INDIAN READER

Tuesday, January 21, 12.30PM – 1.30PM, Google Mughal Tent

Vivek Tejuja, Aditi Maheshwari, R Sivapriya in conversation with Mita Kapoor

 

BOOK LAUNCH: TRAVELLING IN, TRAVELLING OUT

Tuesday, January 21, 1.30PM – 2.15PM, Google Mughal Tent

Book Launch: Travelling in, Travelling out with Namita Gokhale

 

IS THERE AN INDIAN WAY OF THINKING

Tuesday, January 21, 3.30PM – 4.30PM, Char Bagh

John Elliott, Geetanjali Shree , Pavan Varma in conversation with Ashok Vajpeyi

DEBATE: “DEMOCRACY IS THE WORST FORM OF GOVERNMENT, EXCEPT FOR ALL THE REST”

Tuesday, January 21, 5PM – 6PM, Front Lawns

Debate: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest”

Murli Manohar Joshi, Pavan Varma, Lily Wangchhuk, K Anis Ahmad, Shazia Ilmi

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Navtej Sarna is the author of the novels The Exile and We Weren’t Lovers Like That as well as the short story collection Winter Evenings. His most recent work is Savage Harvest, a translation of Punjabi Partition short stories. He contributes regularly to the Times Literary Supplement, The Hindu and other journals.

Writer and publisher Namita Gokhale has written twelve books including several works of fiction. Her first novel, Paro: Dreams of Passion, which created a furore with its candid sexual humour celebrates its thirtieth anniversary edition in 2014. Other novels include A Himalayan Love Story, The Book of Shadows, Shakuntala: The Play of the Memory, and Priya, a recent sequel to Paro. Gokhale has worked extensively with Indian myth. She has written The Book of Shiva and retold the Mahabharata for young readers. She also co-edited the landmark anthology, In Search of Sita: Revisiting Mythology. An edited anthology Travelling In, Travelling Out will be launched this January.

One of the founders and a co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival and of Mountain Echoes, the annual Bhutan Festival, Gokhale is committed to showcasing literature from across the Indian languages. She currently curates Kitaabnama: Books and Beyond, a multilingual book show on Doordarshan.

Paro Anand can’t stop writing books for children, young adults and adults although many people tell her she should slow down. She’s probably written about 25 books so far, but she keeps losing count. Her book No Guns at my Son’s Funeral is being made into a feature film.

A writer of depth and insight, Pavan Varma has written over a dozen books including the highly successful Krishna: The Playful Divine on India’s most popular deity, the critically applauded biography of the Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib, Ghalib: The Man, The Times, and the Havelis of Old Delhi. Mr. Varma’s new book, Chanakya’s New Manifesto: To Resolve the Crisis within India, was launched by Aleph in January 2013.