• By Mabel Pais

The Jaipur Literature Festival (jlflitfest.org), celebrating books, ideas, and dialogue, — described as “the greatest literary show on Earth” by Tina Brown: journalist, editor-in-chief of ‘The Daily Beast’ (tinabrownmedia.com) — returns to New York in September 2024, presenting a series of conversations and performances examining the human experience through the imaginations of some of the world’s leading authors, thinkers, and performers. The event takes place on Monday, September 9, 2024 at Jayaram Studios @ 6 pm @ 54 W 21st St, New York, NY 10010.

The Festival opens with ‘Women in Culture Conclave’, an evening of conversations/readings/fireside chats with culture makers, writers and ideators, contemplating women’s role in history & narrative as both disruptors and transmitters of culture. Curated by Myna Mukherjee the event is presented by ‘Engendered’ in association with the JLF as an opening event for JLF NY on Monday, September 9th, 2024.

Partners in New York

Other partners include The South Asia Institute, The Culture Tree, Jayaram Studios, Tagmo & others.

Featuring:

VIDYA SHAH, an Indian classical singer, musician and composer, & winner of the Charles Wallace Award. She will present a musical excerpt from her project collaboration with the Ford Foundation called Women on Record, and her book Jalsa highlighting the contributions of the forgotten women performers of the gramophone era.

MARILYN HACKER, eminent poet, translator & critic and a feminist. Recipient of Lambda Literary Award and other numerous honors, including the Bernard F. Conners Prize from The Paris Review, the John Masefield Memorial Award of the Poetry Society of America, the PEN Voelcker Award, the Argana International Poetry Prize from the Beit as-Shir/House of Poetry in Morocco, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is also the Professor of English emerita at the City College of New York and was elected as Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 2008.

BUSHRA REHMAN, an award-winning novelist & poet, and author of the New York Times and New Yorker Editor’s Choice of the year ‘Roses in The Mouth of a Lion’, a modern classic about what it means to be Muslim and queer in a Pakistani-American community.

ANU SEHGAL, children’s author and founder of ‘The Culture Tree’, a cultural literacy and language education company that focuses on South Asia. Anu has written 5 books that represent stories and languages of India. Anu’s books have been selected at the World Literature Festival at NYPL, Brooklyn Museum’s annual Children’s Literature Festival and Asia Society’s AAPI Literature Festival.

RAAKHEE MIRCHANDANI, journalist, children’s book author, activist, also co-author of ‘She Persisted’ with Chelsea Clinton and her latest upcoming book ‘Kamala Raised Her Hand’.

AROON SHIVDASANI, founder, former executive & artistic director of the Indo-American Arts Council, NYC, and recipient of the Minnie Untermeyer Award for Excellence in the Arts, 2023.

SUNITA IQBAL, senior advisor in private and public arts philanthropy. She has worked with major arts funders including the Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts in partnership with the Regional and Economic Development Council’s Arts and Culture Initiatives and Capital Improvement Funds, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and DanceNYC.

MYNA MUKHERJEE, listed as India’s top 5 curators and Open Magazine’s ‘Top 50 Open Minds 2024’. She is a cultural curator, producer and director of ‘Engendered’, a transnational arts & human rights organization New Delhi/New York.

The Jaipur Literary Festival (JLF)

The city of Jaipur in 2006 hosted the first book festival with 18 authors and about 100 attendees. In January 2024 the Jaipur Literature Festival had 300 speakers and 500,000 attendees.

In between, JLF has become what Tina Brown (tinabrownmedia.com) calls “the greatest literary show on Earth,” attracting almost every major author from around the planet and making breakout stars of authors unheard of. Programmed by Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple and produced by Sanjoy Roy and Suraj Dhingra of Teamwork Arts, JLF has become similar to Oprah’s book club. And Oprah made it in 2012, drawing large crowds.

For about a decade, JLF editions have also taken place outside India, including Boulder, Colorado; Houston, Texas; New York City, the UK, Spain, Maldives, Australia, the Middle East and elsewhere seamlessly merging the rich multilingual literary traditions of South Asia with the unique essence of the host regions.

This September, JLF USA (jlflitfest.org) is going to the next level, adding new editions in five cities:

Houston: September 6-8

New York: September 9-11

Boulder: September 14-15

Seattle: September 20-22

Raleigh/Chapel Hill: September 27-28 

Partners in the USA

Digimentors (digimentors.group) and Sreenath Sreenivasan have partnered with JLF USA to work on programming, outreach and more. For more information, email jlfusa@digimentors.group. Learn more at jlflitfest.org.

RSVP & TICKETS

RSVP is required @ rsvp.engendered@gmail.com or WhatsApp @ +91 987 306 1430 by September 8 at 6 pm. Purchase tickets at theculturetree.com.

JLF New York

In February 2024, the 17th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival took place in the Pink City of Jaipur, Rajasthan. It was a magnificent success, affirming the power of words and ideas through a remarkable line-up of speakers and sessions. The Festival’s indomitable and inspiring spirit reached the festival’s audiences, both digitally and in-person.

This year, the vibrant energy of the Jaipur Festival makes its return to New York. The 8th edition of the festival is taking place September 9-11, 2024.

Through 2021-2022, virtual versions of JLF kept the spirit of creative conversations alive during the Covid years. Writers, thinkers, poets, artists, and filmmakers engaged in captivating discussions.

In 2023, JLF successfully held another on ground edition of JLF New York, following two successful virtual editions in collaboration with the Consulate General of India – New York, Asia Society, The National Arts Club, The Centre for Fiction, and Sundaram Tagore Gallery.

This year, JLF returns to celebrate the cosmopolitanism and liveliness of New York City. JLF once again brings forth its signature camaraderie, a caravan of ideas, and the enchanting flow of conversations that make our festival truly incredible!

(Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Spirituality, Cuisine, Health & Wellness, Business, and Education)