India News | JLF 2022 to Be Held in 'hybrid' Mode, First List of Speakers Announced

New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) After going virtual in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival is finally set to host bibliophiles at its cherished home Jaipur in hybrid mode, starting January 28 next year, its organisers announced on Monday.

Touted as the world's largest free literary event, the festival, now in its 15th edition, expected to see participation by over 250 authors, thinkers, politicians and popular culture icons across the world, will host sessions offline from January 28 to February 1 and virtual till its closure on February 6, 2022.

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The festival this year will also witness a shift from its traditional venue of Diggi Palace to Hotel Clarks Amber, Jaipur with added facilities to accommodate footfalls and follow COVID-19 safety protocols according to government guidelines.

"This first-ever truly hybrid literary extravaganza will showcase a plethora of themes and writers curated specially for audiences across the world, offering an immersive experience of literature, discourse, musical performances, art installations, merchandise, local cuisine and more. In its milestone hybrid edition, the Festival aims to be even wider in its reach and longer in duration, covering 10 days," said the organisers in a statement.

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Here, the organisers also announced the first list of 15 speakers, including 2021 Booker Prize winner Damon Galgut, Portuguese politician and author Bruno Maçães, Indian-born British writer and playwright Farrukh Dhondy, Australian author and 2003 Booker Prize winner DBC Pierre and author-poet Arundhathi Subramaniam.

"I am completely thrilled that our beloved literature festival is returning to Jaipur after a spell online due to the pandemic. We are coming back with a truly spectacular line-up of literary superstars from across the world. In fiction, we have this year's Booker winner, the great Damon Galgut, his predecessor DBC Pierre, Pulitzer finalist Jonathan Franzen. It's going to be utterly magnificent and we look forward to seeing you in Jaipur from the 28th January," said William Dalrymple, writer, historian and co-director JLF.

Also featured on the first list are authors Kunal Basu, Jonathan Franzen, Tripurdaman Singh, Mukulika Banerjee, politician-author Shashi Tharoor and historian Vikram Sampath.

The list continues with art historian B N Goswamy, archaeologist Cat Jarman, surgeon and writer Dr Ambarish Satwik and novelist Shivani Sibal.

"There has never been a more powerful feast of literature, discourse & camaraderie than the annual Jaipur Literature Festival. This year's hybrid version will enable a much larger audience to access the festival offerings, reaching out to people across continents. Teamwork Arts invites book-lovers to be a part of this milestone Festival in its newest avatar," said festival producer Sanjoy K Roy.

The ninth edition of the Jaipur BookMark (JBM), which will be running parallel to the festival, will bring together a wide range of publishers, literary agents, writers, translators, translation agencies and booksellers from across the world and give them an opportunity to meet, talk business and listen to major global industry players.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)