1 About JLF AT SOUTHBANK The vibrant energies of the famed Jaipur Literature Festival travel to Southbank Centre, London, this May, as a creative caravan of writers and thinkers, poets and balladeers. Showcasing South Asia’s unique multilingual literary heritage, and juxtaposing oral and performative arts, books and ideas, dialogue and debate, Bollywood and politics, this magical mystery tour is an intense two-day highlight of what has been declared: ‘the greatest literary show on earth’. Jaipur Literature Festival Directors, Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple bring together a weekend of talks, music and readings. QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL, PURCELL ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL, CLORE BALLROOM AT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL & THE FRONT ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 10:30am - 6pm 2 Day Pass: £20 Weekend Pass: £35 Registration opens 10am onwards 3 Directors Note Namita GOKHALE The story of the Jaipur Literature Festival has many dimensions of magic in it. An annual event which has become a literary pilgrimage, it has transformed the way South Asian writing views itself and its place in the world. The festival believes in the human imagination, beyond borders and boundaries, nations and ideologies. South Asian literature, in its many voices, languages, and avatars, retains an underlying warp and woof of cultural connectivity. Linguistic histories, colonial experiences, or the resistance to them, have fermented and matured the writing of all these literatures. As the spreading banyan tree of our festival finds root and sustenance at the Southbank Centre for the second year, we bring together sessions that invoke the special ‘spirit of Jaipur’, which is celebratory and interrogative, spontaneous yet rigorous. From Gandhi to Modi, feminism to South Asian humour, crime writing to matters of faith, partition to revolutions of rising aspirations, Jaipur by the Thames takes you on a unique journey of the mind and spirit. William DALRYMPLE 4 Jaipur Literature Festival is a unique celebration of writing that has grown into something bigger and more wonderful to anything we could ever have hoped when we first conceived this festival a decade ago. From only 14 guests turning up in 2005, most of whom were tourists who took the wrong turn, in 2006 we had a big enough crowd nearly to fill the Diggi Durbar Hall. About four hundred people came in 2007. This year, we had more than a quarter of a million footfalls, and the success of Jaipur has inspired a whole galaxy of nearly sixty other literary festivals, not only in India but in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and now Burma. We are as surprised as we are proud of this. All events are completely free; there are no reserved spaces for grandees; our authors mingle with the crowds and eat with them on a first-come, first-served basis. People also know that when they come here they will have a lot of fun. As Time Out put it nicely last year: “It’s settled. The Jaipur Literature Festival is officially the Woodstock, Live 8 and Ibiza of world literature, with an ambience that can best be described as James Joyce meets Monsoon Wedding.” But the scale, and reach of the festival is something that still takes us all aback. When we ask an author to come to Jaipur, they very rarely say no, and this year we were proud to present a Nobel Laureate, as well as a galaxy of Booker, Pulitzer and Commonwealth nominees. Jaipur has now become synonymous with the greatest writers on the planet. For the second time, we present at the Southbank a mini taster platter — a sort of pocket-sized Jaipur-on-Thames. We can’t wait to show London a little taster of the energy and colourful literary brilliance which has made Jaipur the most happening literary festival in the world. 5 Festival Program 1. Opening Session: Address by Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee 3. ”A Corner of a Distant Playing Field” James Astill, Romesh Gunesekera and Ashis Ray in conversation with Rajdeep Sardesai 16th May, 11am-12pm QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 2. “Gandhi: The Man and the Mahatma” Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, Meghnad Desai, Faisal Devji and Sam Miller in conversation with Salil Tripathi Ashish Nandy famously described cricket as “an Indian game invented accidentally by the English”. The passion for cricket both unites and divides South Asia. A panel of writers and journalists who have all written on and around cricket discuss the nuances and vagaries of the game. Author and journalist James Astill, author Romesh Gunesekera, Indian foreign correspondent and author Ashis Ray and writer, columnist and television anchor Rajdeep Sardesai in conversation 16th May, 12:15pm-1:15pm Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was destined PURCELL ROOM AT QUEEN to be the conscience and political catalyst of ELIZABETH HALL his age. A distinguished panel including his granddaughter, activist and Vice-Chairperson of Gandhi Smriti, Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, writer and economist Lord Meghnad Desai, historian Faisal Devji, journalist and writer Sam Miller and author and columnist Salil Tripathi discusses the human vulnerability and genius Anita Roy of the man who became the Mahatma. Odd Bod, Square Peg, Sore Thumb 16th May, 12:15pm-1:15pm QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 6 Ever felt like a misfit? Like you’re a bit different? Do you sometimes wish you were more like everyone else? Join storyteller and author Anita Roy for a thought-sparking, brain-teasing booktour to help figure out the question: why do we spend so much time trying to fit in when all the best stories are about the ones who don’t? 16th May, 12:15pm-1:15pm CLORE BALLROOM AT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL Shakespearewallahs Suhel Seth, Tim Supple and others in conversation with Pragya Tiwari From Kathakali adaptations to Bollywood melodrama, the bard has found his way to India. This lively session explores the politics, representation and relevance of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, in the light of changing contexts and situations, in another time and another continent. Among his multiple talents as writer, ad-guru and media person, Suhel Seth is also an actor and theatre person. Theatre director Tim Supple has interpreted Midsummers Night’s Dream within an Indian context and journalist Pragya Tiwari is also a specialist on matters of Bollywood. 16th May, 1:30pm-2:30pm PURCELL ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 5. “Clueless: Season of Crime” Nils Nordberg, Ashwin Sanghi, Alison Joseph in conversation with Somnath Batabyal The resurgence of crime writing and detective fiction around the world is perhaps indicative of the human search for morals, ethics, accountability, responsibility and the nature of mortality. Besides of course, the joy of a wellconstructed whodunit, East or West. Crime writer and editor Nils Nordberg, journalist and author Somnath Batabyal, versatile fiction writer Ashwin Sanghi and crime writer and radio dramatist Alison Joseph discuss the finer nuances of the genre. 16th May, 2:30pm-3:30pm PURCELL ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 4. “Revolution of Rising Aspirations” 6. ReadingsIndian Summer: Writers Uninterrupted Anita Raghavan and Lily Wangchuk, Sidin Vadukut and Karan Billimoria moderated by Rajdeep Sardesai Shrabani Basu, Janice Pariat and Romesh Gunesekera A “revolution of rising aspiration” sweeps South Asia, as a population of 2 billion plus demands more opportunities and greater choices. National narratives of hope and entrepreneurship collide with those of greed, corruption and opportunism. A distinguished panel which includes writer and journalist Anita Raghavan, Bhutanese writer and once Prime Ministerial candidate Lily Wangchuk and writer and columnist Sidin Vadukut and entrepeneur Lord Karan Billimoria moderated by writer and television anchor Rajdeep Sardesai. 16th May, 2:30pm-3:30pm QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL In a session of readings and discussions, Shrabani Basu, Janice Pariat and Romesh Gunesekera read from their recent books and discuss their work and the context of their writings. Shrabani Basu is the author of Victoria & Abdul, The Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant, Spy Princess, The Life of Noor Inayat Khan, Janice Pariat is the author of Seahorse, A Novel and Boats on Land and Romesh Gunesekera is the author of numerous books, with his latest being Noon Tide Toll. 16th May, 1:30pm-2:30pm CLORE BALLROOM AT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL 7 Book Launch: “Hubris: Why Economists Failed to Predict the Crisis and How to Avoid the next One” by Meghnad Desai Meghnad Desai in conversation with Anita Raghavan 16th May, 2:30pm-3:30pm CLORE BALLROOM AT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL 7. “V.S. Naipaul: The Writer and the World” V.S. Naipaul in conversation with Farrukh Dhondy It is half a century since Nobel Laureate Sir VS Naipaul wrote his groundbreaking masterpiece, ‘A House For Mr Biswas’. In conversation with Farrukh Dhondy, the ‘clear eyed prophet’ of our times looks back on his craft and career and discusses his complex and demanding body of work. 16th May, 3:45pm-4:45pm QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 8. “Divide and Rue: The Partition of the Indian Subcontinent” Dilip Hiro, Navtej Sarna, Andrew Whitehead moderated by Urvashi Butalia 8 The partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 has been described as the largest mass migration in history. The wounds of this abrupt dismemberment have not healed with the passage of time, and national and cultural tensions continue to escalate. A panel consisting of writer, journalist and commentator Dilip Hiro, writer and diplomat Navtej Sarna, editor and historian Andrew Whitehead in conversation with writer and feminist publisher Urvashi Butalia relooks this troubled history. 16th May, 3:45pm-4:45pm PURCELL ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 9. “The Modi Effect” Lance Price, Anshuman Jain, Swapan Dasgupta, Rajdeep Sardesai moderated by John Elliott A year to the day since Narendra Modi’s landslide election victory, four journalists who have met and written about him join with an international banker to talk about the man and the extent to which he has (or has not) met a nations aspirations. Lance Price and Rajdeep Sardesai have written books about Modi’s astonishing election victory, columnist Swapan Dasgupta is an avowed admirer and journalist, banker Anshuman Jain has experienced his international ambitions for India, and John Elliott spotted him as a potential future leader back in 2002. 16th May, 5pm-6pm QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 10. The Gaze: Here’s Looking at You, India Meghnad Desai, Sam Miller, Urvashi Butalia, Adrienne Loftus Parkins, Sadakat Kadri and Jonathan Shainin moderated by Pragya Tiwari What are the reference points to understand a country and culture as complex as India? A panel examines perspectives and prejudice in the contemporary representations of this unfathomable country. 16th May, 5pm-6pm PURCELL ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 11.”Kohinoor: The Violent History of the World’s Most Famous Diamond” Anita Anand, Navtej Sarna, William Dalrymple moderated by Shrabani Basu The Kohinoor is the most famous diamond in the world and has long been considered the subject of a deadly curse. On its journey from Golconda through Delhi, Afghanistan and the Sikh Empire to London, it has wound its way through the books of all the writers on this panel. BBC anchor Anita Anand is the author of Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary, writer and diplomat Navtej Sarna is also the author of The Exile, a novel based on the life of Raja Ranjit Singh, journalist and historian Shrabani Basu has written Victoria & Abdul, The Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant and famed historian William Dalrymple has written extensively on Mughal and colonial India. 17th May, 11am-12pm QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 12. “Awaaz Do: Voices from Urdu, Hindustani and Hindi” Francesca Orsini, Qaisra Shahraz, Achala Sharma in conversation with Divya Mathur Urdu, Hindustani and Hindi share a vocabulary and literary heritage across different scripts, cultures and national boundaries. They continue to create a body of writing that is rooted yet universal and reaches out to audiences in both South Asia and the extended linguistic diaspora. A panel of readings and discussions by Professor of Indian literature Francesca Orsini, author Qaisra Shahraz, author and playwright Achala Sharma and poet Divya Mathur. 17th May, 11am-12pm PURCELL ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL Odd Bod, Square Peg, Sore Thumb Anita Roy Ever felt like a misfit? Like you’re a bit different? Do you sometimes wish you were more like everyone else? Join storyteller and author Anita Roy for a thought-sparking, brain-teasing booktour to help figure out the question: why do we spend so much time trying to fit in when all the best stories are about the ones who don’t? 17th May, 11am-12pm CLORE BALLROOM AT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL 13. “Darjeeling” Jeff Koehler in conversation with Pragya Tiwari The story of Darjeeling tea is a story of intrigue and empire, with the backdrop of the looming Himalayas and drenching monsoons. Writer and traveler Jeff Koehler and journalist and editor Pragya Tiwari discuss the many narratives and contradictions through the history of this idyllically beautiful yet troubled region. 17th May, 11am-12pm THE FRONT ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 9 14. “Whose Feminism Is It Anyway?” Anita Anand, Lily Wangchuk, Urvashi Butalia, Suhel Seth, Janice Pariat and Namita Gokhale in conversation with Salil Tripathi Even as feminist ideology around the world is relooking itself, South Asia seeks its own models of freedom and creative empowerment that work within its culture and context. A panel discusses the contradictions, predicaments and triumphs of local feminism. Anita Anand, Lily Wangchuk, Urvashi Butalia, Suhel Seth, Namita Gokhale, Janice Pariat and Salil Tripathi bring various perspectives to this important issue. 17th May, 12:15pm-1:15pm QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 15. “Delhi Durbar” Malvika Singh, William Dalrymple and Somnath Batabyal in conversation with Swapan Dasgupta Delhi has been the capital of much of India since the time of the Mahabharata. Once a great hub of North Indian culture, it remains the centre of power, politics and politicking. Writers, observers and Delhi-wallahs discuss what makes India’s Imperial City ‘lajawaab’. A walk through history with publisher and columnist Malvika Singh, author Somnath Batabyal, columnist Swapan Dasgupta and historian William Dalrymple, all of whom have written extensively about Delhi. 17th May, 12:15pm-1:15pm PURCELL ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL Ambushed! worshop by Nayanika Mahtani 10 17th May, 2:30pm-3:30pm CLORE BALLROOM AT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL 16. “The Mahabharata: India’s Enduring Epic” Readings by Ashwin Sanghi, Carole Satyamurti and Namita Gokhale introduced by Vayu Naidu The Mahabharata is one of the greatest and most enduring epics anywhere. It is not an ethical or prescriptive text but an acute and pragmatic testament to human understanding. The session brings alive the complex narratives of the Mahabharata and its contemporary relevance through a series of readings by and on behalf of Carole Satyamurti, Ashwin Sanghi and Namita Gokhale, introduced by Vayu Naidu. 17th May, 12:15pm-1:15pm THE FRONT ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 17. “Return of a King” William Dalrymple introduced by Somnath Batabyal Historian William Dalrymple on his celebrated book and how the shadow of history looms through present day conflicts in Afghanistan. This account of a watershed conflict, and the first battle for Afghanistan, looks into the obvious parallels in the modern world. 17th May, 2:30pm-3:30pm QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL Music workshop by Kutle Khan 17th May, 12:15pm-1:15pm CLORE BALLROOM AT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL 18. “On Bangladesh: Of 20. “We Are Like That Wars and Betrayals” Only: What Makes South Asians Smile?” Tahmima Anam, Salil Tripathi and Sadaf Saaz moderated by Mukulika Banerjee The Bangladesh War of 1971 disjointed a nation absurdly partitioned by the British into territories, more than a thousand miles apart. Played out against the precarious balance of power of the Cold War, the Bangladesh War of Liberation remains a subject of deep and immediate interest to both historians and writers of fiction. Tahmima Anam is the author of The Golden Age and The Good Muslim. Writer and human rights activist Salil Tripathi is the author of The Colonel Who Would Not Repent, poet and female rights activist Sadaf Saaz has created a series of monologues titled ‘That which cannot be said’. Moderated by Mukulika Banerjee. 17th May, 2:30pm-3:30pm PURCELL ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 19. “Deconstructing Bollywood: Beyond the Cliches” Shabana Azmi, Farrukh Dhondy, Nasreen Munni Kabir, Rachel Dwyer moderated by Sanjoy Roy The stylized comedy, tragedy and melodrama of the exuberant Bollywood genre has its own complex aesthetics and critical subtexts. Scholars and denizens of Bollywood give us step-by-step inputs on the Indian film industry. Distinguished actor Shabana Azmi, producer and director Nasreen Munni Kabir, writer and media person Farrukh Dhondy, Professor of Indian Culture and Cinema Rachel Dwyer, and cultural activist Sanjoy Roy. Moni Mohsin, Malvika Singh and Suhel Seth moderated by Sidin Vadukut Are South Asians stingy with humour? Do they move beyond slapstick and lewd innuendo and are they comfortable with pushing the boundaries of comedy and laughter? Smile with us through this funny-bone session. Writer and satirist Moni Mohsin, the witty tellit-like-it-is Malvika Singh, the irrepressible Suhel Seth and the seriously skeptical Sidin Vadukut tell us what makes South Asians smile. 17th May, 3:45pm-4:45pm PURCELL ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 21. DEBATE:“Has the Westminster Model of Democracy taken root in South Asia?” Suhel Seth, Swapan Dasgupta, Lily Wangchuk, Sadaf Saaz, Mukulika Banerjee, Michael Hutt, Salil Tripathi and Zareer Masani Jaipur Literature Festival traditionally closes with a hugely participative public debate where argumentative Indians and enthused international audiences cheer and boo to amplify the combat on stage. In its Southbank edition, the JLF debate examines whether or not the Westminster model of democracy has taken root in South Asia. Has the colonial model been able to evolve into an effective indigenous format for responsible governments and does it fit the imperatives of Asian democracy? 17th May, 5pm-6pm QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 17th May, 3:45pm-4:45pm QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 11 Adrienne LOFTUS PARKINS Adrienne is a literature consultant who has been a curator and advisor to publishers, media, libraries and entertainment venues throughout the UK. She is the founder and former director of the Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival. Currently Adrienne is advising on the start-up of a new festival in Southeast Asia, is a member of the DSC Prize of South Asian Literature steering committee, and writes a monthly column for The Asian Writer. Andrew WHITEHEAD Andrew Whitehead is the author of A Mission in Kashmir and a senior visiting research fellow at the King’s India Institute. He’s a former BBC Delhi correspondent and was until recently the editor of BBC World Service News. Anita ANAND Anita Anand has been a radio and television journalist for almost twenty years. She is the presenter of Any Answers, the political phone-in programme on BBC Radio 4. During her career, she has also presented Drive, Doubletake and the Anita Anand Show on Radio 5 Live, and Saturday Live, The Westminster Hour, Beyond Westminster, Midweek and Woman’s Hour on Radio 4. On BBC television she has presented The Daily Politics, The Sunday Politics and Newsnight. She has interviewed five Indian Prime Ministers, three from Pakistan and Great Britain and one from Bangladesh. She lives in west London. 12 Anita RAGHAVAN Anita ROY Anita Raghavan is the author of The Billionaire’s Apprentice: The Rise of the Indian-American Elite and the Fall of the Galleon Hedge Fund, which was shortlisted for the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs Book of the Year award in 2013. She has won the Overseas Press Club and New York Press Club awards for her work in the Wall Street Journal. Currently she is a contributor to the New York Times. Anita Roy is a writer, editor and performer. She has spent the past two decades living and working as a publisher in Delhi, helping to build up the Young Zubaan imprint. Her work has appeared in several anthologies, including Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean which she also co-edited. Ashwin SANGHI Ashwin ranks among India’s highest-selling fiction authors. He has written several bestsellers (The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Chant, The Krishna Key) besides co-authoring a thriller with James Patterson. Included in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 and winner of Crossword’s Popular Choice Award, Ashwin has recently penned a non-fiction title ‘13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck’. 13 Ashis RAY Ashis Ray is the longest serving Indian foreign correspondent, having uninterruptedly worked in this capacity for 38 years, mainly for BBC and CNN, but also for the Ananda Bazar Group and the Times of India, in addition to being the senior-most Indian broadcaster and writer on cricket. He is the youngest ever test match commentator, having made my debut when I was 24 years old and has recently written a book titled Cricket World Cup: The Indian Challenge Carole SATYAMURTI Carole Satyamurti is a poet and former sociologist. She has published several volume of poetry, and her work has been widely anthologised. Stitching the Dark: New and Selected Poems (Bloodaxe) came out in 2005, and her latest collection is Countdown (Bloodaxe, 2011) Her Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling is published by Norton. Dilip HIRO Dilip Hiro is a London-based Indian writer and journalist with his focus on South, Central and West Asia. His thirty-five books include Inside India Today, Inside Central Asia, Apocalyptic Realm: Jihadists in South Asia, and The Longest August: The Unflinching Rivalry between India and Pakistan. His Shah Jahan-o-Mumtaz was judged one of the best plays in Delhi in 2014. 14 Divya MATHUR Founder of Vatayan: Poetry on South Bank, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an award-winning author, Divya Mathur has been honoured by the Arts Council of England for promoting Indo-British dialogue in the UK, addressing the cultural aspirations of the Indian community at the level of thought and shared experience since 1985. Faisal DEVJI Dr. Faisal Devji is Reader in Modern South Asian History and Fellow of St. Antony’s College at the University of Oxford, where he is also Director of the Asian Studies Centre. Specialising in intellectual history and political thought, Devji is the author of four books, on militant Islam, global politics, nonviolence and nationalism. His last two monographs are The Impossible Indian: Gandhi and the Temptation of Violence, and Muslim Zion: Pakistan as a Political Idea. Farrukh DHONDY Farrukh Dhondy was born in Pune, India, He lives in London and writes novels, sceenplays, among the Bandit Queen and The Rising for Bollywood and numerous films for the UK. He contributes regular columns tor Indian publications. His latest books are London Company, an autobiographical activist’s memoir and Prophet of Love, a novel about spritual fraud. 15 Francesca ORSINI Francesca Orsini is Professor of Hindi and South Asian literature at SOAS. Her research spans contemporary Hindi literature, Hinglish, the cultural history of love, Hindi and Urdu popular publishing in the colonial period, and the longue durée of literary multilingualism in north India, in particular of the region of Awadh. James ASTILL Janice PARIAT James Astill is the author of “The Great Tamasha; Cricket, Corruption and the Turbulent Rise of Modern India.” A social history of Indian cricket, which examines the IPL as a representation of India’s growth and change, it has won several awards, including the MCC-Cricket Society Book of the Year, the most prestigious in cricket writing. James is the Political Editor and Bagehot columnist of The Economist. Janice Pariat is the author of Boats on Land: A Collection of Short Stories (Random House, India, 2012). She was awarded the Young Writer Award from the Sahitya Akademi (Indian National Academy of Letters) and the Crossword Book Award for Fiction in 2013. Her novel Seahorse was published by Random House, India in November, 2014. 16 Jeff KOEHLER Jeff Koehler is an American writer, traveller, and cook. He has written many books and articles on food and culture including his most recent book Morocco: A Culinary Journey with Recipes from the Spice-Scented Markets of Marrakech to the Date-Filled Oasis of Zagora. He has also been a photographer for multiple cookbooks such as Rice, Pasta, Couscous: The Heart of the Mediterranean Kitchen, La Paella: Deliciously Authentic Recipes from Spain’s Mediterranean Coast, and Spain: Recipes and Traditions from the Verdant Hills of the Basque Country to the Coastal Waters of Andalucia, named a New York Times Notable Book of 2013. He now lives in Barcelona. John ELLIOTT John Elliott is a former Financial Times journalist, who has also written from South Asia for The Economist, the New Statesman, and Fortune magazine. His prize-winning book IMPLOSION: India’s Tryst with Reality is now available as an updated paperback (published by Harper Collins India and sold internationally on Amazon and other sites). Based in New Delhi, he writes a blog on South Asia’s current affairs called Riding the Elephant that also appears on the websites of The Independent (UK), Newsweek (US) and Asia Sentinel (Hong Kong). He first went to India for the FT in 1983. Jonathan SHAININ Jonathan Shainin is the editor of the Guardian’s new Long Read section. He was previously the online news editor at the New Yorker, and the senior editor of the Caravan in Delhi. 17 Lance PRICE Lance Price is the author of The Modi Effect Inside Narendra Modi’s campaign to transform India, published by Hodder and Stoughton. He worked at 10 Downing Street from 1998 to 2000 as a media adviser to Tony Blair and a deputy to Alistair Campbell. He was the Labour Party’s Director of Communications from 2000 until the General Election of 2001. Before joining Number Ten he was a BBC Political Correspondent for many years. He is the author of three previous books, The Spin Doctor’s Diary, Time and Fate, and Where Power Lies. He is a regular commentator on politics and world affairs on the BBC and other broadcasters. Lily WANGCHUK Lily Wangchuk is President of Druk Chirwang Tshogpa (Bhutan Social Democratic Party), Chairperson of Bhutan Democracy Dialogue and a well known writer from Bhutan. As a former Bhutanese diplomat, ARR, UNDP Bhutan and Executive Director for Bhutan Media Foundation, she brings with her 20 years extensive experience in varied field. Lily has a Masters Degree in Public Policy from, ANU, Australia; PG Diploma in Human Rights, International Law & Refugee Law, India; Bachelor Honours Degree in Political Science, Delhi University,India. She has written numerous publications and has won many awards including ANU Postgraduate Award from ANU, Australia; Lions Club Award in India and was honoured as Top Global Woman in 2013 by Diplomatic Courier, USA. Malvika SINGH Malvika Singh is a publisher of Seminar, a prestigious monthly magazine of ideas and alternatives, founded in 1959 and a columnist for The Telegraph. She is also Editorial Consultant at Harmony magazine. She has written numerous books such as Perpetual City: A Short Biography of Delhi, Aleph, 2013; Bhutan: Through the Lens of the King (Text for the book), Lustre Press, Roli Books, 2012; New Delhi: Making of a Capital, Roli Books, 2009; Delhi: India in One City, Academic Foundation, 2008 and Snowdon’s India. She edited Delhi: The First City; Chennai: A City of Change; Hyderabad: A City of Hope; Kolkata: A Soul City; Lucknow: A City Between Cultures; Mumbai: A City of Dreams. 18 Meghnad DESAI Meghnad Desai is Emeritus Professor of Economics at LSE. His latest book is a Hubris : why a economists failed to Predict the Recession and How to Avoid the Next One. Michael HUTT Michael Hutt is Professor of Nepali and Himalayan Studies and Director of the South Asia Institute at SOAS, University of London. He specializes in the study of modern and contemporary Nepali literature, of which he is also a leading translator. Moni MOHSIN Moni Mohsin was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan. She started her writing career at The Friday Times, Pakistan’s first independent weekly, where she served as the Features Editor. She is now a freelance journalist and author of two novels, the prize winning The End of Innocence and Duty Free. Her best selling collection of satirical columns, The Dairy of a Social Butterfly and The Return of the Butterfly, are based on her long running column for The Friday Times. 19 Mukulika BANERJEE Namita GOKHALE Mukulika Banerjee is Associate Professor in Social Anthropology at the London School of Economics and the first Director of the South Asia Centre to be launched at LSE in June 2015. Her latest book Why India Votes? was published by Routledge in 2014. She is currently working on a monograph on democracy and village life. Her doctoral research was on an anti-colonial movement of non-violent civil disobedience among the Pashtuns of the NWFP that was published as The Pathan Unarmed (2000). She is also a co-author of a book on the modernity of fashion, The Sari (2003) and edited Muslim Portraits (2007). Namita Gokhale is a writer, publisher and festival director. She has written twelve books, including several works of fiction. Her controversial first novel, ‘Paro: Dreams of Passion’, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary edition in 2014. 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 ’. A founder and 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 ‘Kitabnama: Books and Beyond’, a multilingual book show on the national channel Doordarshan. Nasreen MUNNI KABIR Born in India, Nasreen Munni Kabir lives in London and has made several TV series for Channel 4, UK, in addition to The Inner/Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan. Author of 16 books, including “Guru Dutt- A Life in Cinema,” “Lata Mangeshkar in Her Own Voice,” “In the Company of a Poet: Gulzar” and “Conversations with Waheeda Rehman.” 20 Navtej SARNA William Dalrymple is the author of nine books about India and the Islamic world, including City of Djinns White Mughals, The Last Mughal and Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India. His new book, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan 1839-42 was published to acclaim in December. He writes regularly for the New Yorker, the New York Review of Books and the Guardian, and is one of the founders and a co-director of the Zee Jaipur Literary Festival. He has honorary doctorates of letters from the universities of St Andrews, Aberdeen, Bradford and Lucknow, and in September took up a visiting fellowship at Princeton. Nils NORDBERG Nils Nordberg was a producer-director at NRK Radio Drama Dept. from 1973–2009, author, critic, dramatist, translator, editor. He has published numerous reviews, articles and essays, mainly on crime fiction, as well as short story anthologies and the complete Sherlock Holmes stories. He is President of Rivertonklubben, the Norwegian Crime Writers’ Association, 1977–1983, 1985–2001; member of B.S.I., hon. member of The Danish Academy of Crime Fiction. Pragya TIWARI Pragya Tiwari is a journalist who writes on politics and public policy and edits a magazine on Indian cinema called The Big Indian Picture. 21 22 23 Qaisra SHAHRAZ Qaisra Shahraz is a British Pakistani critically acclaimed novelist and scriptwriter whose work is studied in schools and universities. Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Director of Asia Pacific writers and translators, Qaisra was recognised as being one of 100 influential Pakistani women. She has appeared at major literary festivals and book fairs. Her bestselling novels Revolt and wTyphoon are translated into several languages. Rachel DWYER Rachel Dwyer is Professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema at SOAS, University of London. Her most recent book is Bollywood’s India: Hindi cinema as a guide to modern India (London: Reaktion; Chicago: University of Chicago Press)/Picture abhi baaki hai: Bollywood as a guide to modern India (New Delhi: Hachette). Rajdeep 24 SARDESAI Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior journalist and author of the best selling book ‘2014: The Election that Changed India”. With 26 years of journalistic experience in print and TV, Sardesai was managing editor of the NDTV network before setting up the IBN 18 network with channels like CNN IBN as founder editor. He is presently a consulting editor to the India Today group and anchors a prime time show on Headlines Today. Specialising in national politics, Sardesai has won numerous other awards for journalistic excellence, including the prestigious Padma Shri for Journalism in 2008, the International Broadcasters award for coverage of the 2002 Gujarat riots, and the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism award for 2007. Romesh GUNESEKERA Romesh Gunesekera’s Noontide Toll was shortlisted for the 2015 DSC Prize. Last year saw the 20 Anniversary edition of his Booker shortlisted novel, Reef. He has written eight books of fiction, including the highly acclaimed cricket novel, The Match, and coauthored the Writers & Artists’ Companion to Novel Writing (2015). He is currently chairing the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Sadaf SAAZ Sadaf Saaz is a poet, writer, entrepreneur and women’s rights activist. She grew up in the UK, and studied Molecular Cell Biology at the University of Cambridge. She now lives in Dhaka, where she runs a travel and arts management company, Jatrik. She is also Festival Director and co-founder of Hay Festival Dhaka. Her debut poetry collection, Sari Reams, was published in November 2013 by UPL. Her series of monologues, ‘That which cannot be said’, produced by Naripokkho, and based on Bangladeshi women’s experiences, has recently been performed in various locations in Bangladesh. She is currently working on a novel. Sadakat KADRI Sadakat Kadri is a human rights barrister at London’s Doughty Street Chambers. His most recent book is Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari’a Law, and he writes on legal, historical and political topics for various publications, including the London Review of Books. 25 Salil TRIPATHI Salil Tripathi was born in Bombay, where he studied at New Era School and Sydenham College, and obtained his Masters from Dartmouth College in United States. He was a foreign correspondent in Singapore in the 1990s and has since lived in London. He writes for Mint, Caravan, and many other publications. He received the Red Ink Award for Human Rights Journalism from the Mumbai Press Club in April 2015. In 2011, he received one of the Bastiat Awards in New York. Salil was on the board of English PEN, 2009-2013. He is the author of The Colonel Who Would Not Repent: The Bangladesh War and its Unquiet Legacy (Aleph, 2014) and Offence: The Hindu Case (Seagull, 2009). Westland Tranquebar will publish his travel essays in Spring 2016. Sam MILLER Sam Miller is the author of A Strange Kind of Paradise: India Through Foreign Eyes (2014), Blue Guide: India (2011) and Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity (2009). Most recently, he contributed an essay entitled Gandhi the Londoner to the latest edition of Granta. He has lived in Delhi for many years, and works, on and off, for the BBC. Sanjoy ROY Sanjoy K Roy is the Managing Director of Teamwork with offices all over the world and has directed and produced over 1000 hours of a wide range of films and television shows. He has received the National Award for Excellence and Best Director, for the film `Shahjahanabad The Twilight Years’. He is a founder trustee of Salaam Baalak Trust working to provide support services for street and working children in the inner city of Delhi where over 55,000 children have benefitted from education, training and residential services over the past years. The White House recently presented him the US Presidents Committee of Arts and Humanities award for an International Organization. 26 Shabana AZMI Shabana Azmi is one of India’s most revered film stars with more than 100 films and 5 Indian National Film Awards to her credit. Apart from her career in films, Shabana Azmi is a social activist both on and off-screen. In 1997, she was elected to the Upper House of Indian parliament. Shabana has received many awards for her contributions to society. In 2006, she was the first Indian social activist to be awarded the Gandhi International Peace Prize at the House of Lords in London. In 2009, she received the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award for ‘using her art to reach out to other cultures’. Shabana is a prime example of a constructively engaged global citizen. Shrabani BASU Shrabani Basu is a journalist and historian. She is the author of Victoria & Abdul, The Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant, Spy Princess, The Life of Noor Inayat Khan, and Curry, The Story of Britain’s Favourite Dish. She is the founder and chair of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust Sidin VADUKUT Sidin Vadukut is the author of the best-selling Dork trilogy of novels. His latest book is The Sceptical Patriot, a critically acclaimed collection of essays on Indian history. He is currently working on a thriller novel set in Mumbai, a history of the Danish East India Company and other assorted literary amusements. Sidin is a foreign correspondent, editor and columnist with the Mint business daily. He lives in London with his family and several Arsenal scarves. 27 Somnath BATABYAL Somnath Batabyal worked for a decade in journalism, covering crime and criminality, hobnobbing with politicians and policemen, before entering the quieter world of Western academia. His first book, Making News in India: Star News and Star Ananda, was published in 2011. Somnath has recently published his debut novel, The Price You Pay, with HarperCollins. He lives in London and teaches at SOAS. Suhel SETH Suhel Seth is Managing Partner of Counselage, India’s only strategic branding and marketing advising Chairpersons and CEOs across India and the world. Suhel is a public speaker; a theatre and film actor and an author of four books. Suhel also sits on the boards of Coca Cola and Citibank and on various foundation boards. Swapan DASGUPTA Swapan Dasgupta is a writer and broadcaster on Indian politics for the past 30 years. Based in Delhi, he writes columns on politics for Times of India, Telegraph, Pioneer, Jagran and Asian Age. He is a regular on political talk shows on TV. A self-professed conservative and believer in market economics, he was active in the BJP campaign for the 2014 general election. A doctorate in history from SOAS (London), he is working on a study of the India’s Idea of Empire. 28 29 Tahmima ANAM Tahmima Anam is the author of A Golden Age and The Good Muslim. In 2013, she was named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. She is a Contributing Opinion Writer for the International New York Times. Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, she now lives in Hackney, East London with her husband and son. Tara GANDHI Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee had the position of Vice-Chairperson of Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti for nearly 9 years. Gandhi Smriti is the site of the martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi for truth and non-violence. Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee is also involved with the movement to protect rivers and the environment of the country. She is the Chairperson of Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, founded by Mahatma Gandhi in the memory of his wife; Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust. KGNMT is one of the oldest pre-independence, non-governmental institutions serving the needy women and children of rural India. Tim SUPPLE Tim Supple has created theatre throughout the world. He has worked regularly at the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company and was Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre. For Dash Arts, he directed the internationally celebrated multi-lingual Indian A Midsummer Nights Dream and a six-hour adaptation of The One Thousand and One Nights, the Arabic-speaking world for Edinburgh International Festival. 30 Urvashi BUTALIA Urvashi Butalia is a publisher and writer. Cofounder of Kali for Women, India’s first feminist publishing house, she is now Director of Zubaan, an imprint of Kali. Among her published works are Speaking Peace: Women’s Voices from Kashmir (edited) and the award winning history of Partition, The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. V.S. NAIPAUL V.S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He went to England on a scholarship in 1950. After four years at University College, Oxford, he began to write, and since then has followed no other profession. He was knighted in 1989, was awarded the David Cohen British Literature Prize in 1993, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lives in Wiltshire, England. Vayu NAIDU Vayu Naidu, commissioned by Bagri Foundation and The British Library, looks at Sufi romances by Jaisi in PRISM a storytelling performance. After SITA’S ASCENT her first novel published by Penguin and launched at Jaipur Literature Festival 2013, her forthcoming novel is a work of historical fiction. 31 William DALRYMPLE William Dalrymple is the author of nine books about India and the Islamic world, including City of Djinns White Mughals, The Last Mughal and Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India. His new book, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan 1839-42 was published to acclaim in December. He writes regularly for the New Yorker, the New York Review of Books and the Guardian, and is one of the founders and a co-director of the Zee Jaipur Literary Festival. He has honorary doctorates of letters from the universities of St Andrews, Aberdeen, Bradford and Lucknow, and in September took up a visiting fellowship at Princeton. Alison JOSEPH Alison Joseph is a London-based crime writer and radio dramatist, ex Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, and author of the Sister Agnes series. Her new crime novel, Dying to Know, is all about particle physics. Alison’s latest novel, Murder Will Out, features Agatha Christie as a detective. Anshuman 32 JAIN Anshu Jain became Co-Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank in 2012 and was subsequently appointed head of Global Markets and later head of the Corporate & Investment Bank. He sits on the Board of Directors of the Institute of International Finance, is a member of the Financial Services Forum and also serves on the International Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Alfred Herrhausen Society. In 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by TERI University in New Delhi, and an Honorary Fellowship from London Business School. In 2012, The Economic Times of India named him Global Indian of the Year. In 2010, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Risk magazine. Achala SHARMA Achala Sharma, writer and broadcaster, is the former Head of the BBC Hindi Service in London. She is the author of three collections of short stories (Bardashta Bahar, Madhyantar and Sookha Hua Samudra) and two volumes of radio plays (Passport & Jaren). She has won a number of awards. Zareer MASANI Zareer Masani has an Oxford history doctorate and is the author of several books, including biographies of Indira Gandhi and Lord Macaulay and a widely acclaimed family memoir. Zareer spent two decades as a current affairs producer for the BBC. He is now a freelance historian, journalist and broadcaster. 33 Saberi MISRA Born into a musical family, Saberi has been surrounded by music from the day she was born. Saberi is learning hindustani vocal from her mother, an eminent vocalist and vocal guru at the Bharatya Vidya Bhavan Sreemati Chandrima Misra. As well as vocal she is also learning tabla from her father, a tabla maestro and tabla guru at the Bharatya Vidya Bhavan centre Pandit Rajkumar Misra. Saberi is also a professional kathak dancer and she has been learning from her grandmother Sreemati Susmita Misra from the age of 3. Saberi is currently in year 13 studying at St James Senior girls’ school. On tabla with her is Dhanraj Persaud a senior student of Pandit Rajkumar Misra and on harmonium by Prabhat Rao a senior student of Sreemati Chandrima Misra. About Bhavan: Bhavan is an indian cultural institution where music, dance, languages are taught, as well as hosting many cultural programs and exhibitions. Bhavan currently has more than 900 students. 16th & 17th May, 10:30am-11:00am FRONT ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL Kutle KHAN The Kutle Khan Project is a unique collective of Rajasthani folk musicians highlighting Kutle Khan, a multi-talented folk musician who has performed on various stages across the world; his music is as seductive as it is rhythmically complex and culturally celebrative. He embodies the rich melodic and sophisticated rhythmic traditions of Rajasthani folk music, and his performances are informed by his understanding of contemporary Indian and Western musical traditions, a perfect part of our socially charged lineup. 34 17th May, 6:00PM onwards FRONT ROOM AT QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 35 20 Book Launches ZEE JAIPUR LITERATURE FESTIVAL 2015 Started in 2006, with only 18 authors, within 8 years Jaipur Literature Festival has become one of the largest and greatest festivals in the world, with over 200,000 visitors each year and writers and speakers including Salman Rushdie, Oprah Winfrey, Vikram Seth, Jhumpa Lahiri, Tash Aw, Taiye Selasi, Reza Aslan, Orhan Pamuk, Jonathan Franzen and JM Coetzee. 393 speakers, musicians & performers in 2015 173 panels, discussions, debates and readings across 6 venues Over 20 major prizes were represented by their winners and nominees at the festival, including Nobel Prize, ManBooker Prize, Commonwealth Prize, Commonwealth Writers Award, ManAsian Literary Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Sahitya Akademi and others 50 schools and educational institutions in the outreach program 22 languages represented 36 4 award announcements 13 concerts and performances 2,70,000 approximate footfalls over 5 days 47% local attendance 42% from the rest of India 11% international visitors 20 speaker nationalities included British, American, Pakistani, Australian, New Zealand, South African, Canadian, Bangladeshi, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, French, Israeli, Irish, Thai and Sri Lankan 16,230 books sold over five days Speakers 2016 Adam Thirlwell al kennedy alex ross alexandra harris alexsanda hemon andrew roberts anita agnihotri carole satyamurti christina lamb desraj kali dexter filkins dhrubajyoti bora edmund de waal fiona mccarthy gajra kottary ha joon hermione lee ian mcewan jorie graham karen armstrong kazuo ishiguro mahesh bhatt margaret atwood margaret macmillan marina warner max hastings michael cunnigham nathan englander neel mukherjee noam chomsky patti smith peter sacks pj harvey prajwal parajuly purushottam agarwal reba som roberto calasso rohinton mistry samhita arni sidin vadukut simon schama stephen greenblat thomas piketty tilda swinton tulsi badrinath william boyd “A THINKER’S PARADISE, A LITERATURE LOVER’S DELIGHT” - THE TIMES OF INDIA 37 Two years ago, the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival began an important new initiative: Jaipur BookMark (JBM). Conceptualized as a business to business segment, JBM is held parallel to ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, in a quiet nearby venue and provides a platform for publishers, literary agents, authors, translation agencies and writers to meet, talk business deals, listen to speakers from across the world and perhaps even sign the occasional contract. The second edition of JBM built on the first and brought together complex and enriching discussions on that all-important thing, content, as well as digitization, the importance of libraries, the question of business mergers, the synergy between books and films and much more. JBM 2016 will continue these discussions but also bring in an important new focus: translations and rights. With its wealth of literatures in over 23 languages, India offers a rich landscape of writing. JBM is well placed to showcase the best of such writing and to help facilitate the sale and exchange of rights both between Indian languages and internationally. JBM 2016 will feature a catalogue of a select list of works on offer for translation, samples of translations for publishers and agents to get a feel of the work, discussions on rights sales and contracts for print, digital and film. Currently, no other publishing platform in India offers the possibility of both getting to know India’s varied literatures, and making contact with publishers and authors from those languages. If you’re a publisher or an agent - whether Indian or international - in search of new authors, new subjects, new languages, new countries, new literatures - you can’t afford to 38 miss Jaipur BookMark 2016. To register log on to: http://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/ registration/jaipur-bookmark-registration For more information write to us at: [email protected] FESTIVAL DIRECTORS: Special thanks to our Sponsors & Partners GOVERNMENT OF RAJASTHAN Vasundhara Raje Hon. Chief Minister of Rajasthan Shailendra Kumar Agarwal Secretary Department of Culture Mira Mehrishi Sanjay Malhotra VEDANTA Mr.Anil Agarwal Fiona Parmar ZEE Roland Landers Abhishek Agrawal TAJ HOTELS Namita Gokhale William Dalrymple PRODUCER Sanjoy Roy Sheuli Sethi HEAD OF PRODUCTION Ankur Bhardwaj FESTIVAL SECRETARIAT Kritika Gupta Sukhman Khera Srishti Jha SPONSORSHIP Preeta Singh Rajatri Biswas Shruti Agarwal Siddhartha Butalia Shalini Grover UK PARTNER GROVER WINES DESIGN AND WEBSITE Sumedh Singh Mandla Sumit Jaiswal Dimple Athavia APEEJAY GROUP Veronica Gledhill Hall Ujan Dutta Anand Raj PR Priti Paul Atika Gupta Vidushi Khera Mary Rahman Veronica Gledhill Hall NORLA INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND VISAS Oliver Moystad Margit Walso PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE HARPER COLLINS CII Gunveena Chadha Shuchita Sonalika Rita Hunt Raj Bhatt Shrabani Basu Shomit Mitter Vinayak Bhattacharya Kiraan Sharma Lucy Beresford Vinayak Bhattacharjee Arpit Goyal Shams Jawaid DIGITAL TEAM Vikram Bhardwaj Sukriti Sharma Reprise Media AUDIO VISUAL Manoj Kumar We thank the team at Southbank Centre: Jude Kelly Rachel Harris Rebecca Hanna-Grindall Anna Selby Rhodri Jones Matthew Holt Adam Howard 39 About TEAMWORK ARTS The arts of India are unrivalled in their depth, diversity and mystery. To showcase this work to diverse audiences requires a deep understanding of our arts, an acute sense of relevance in programming, and an unflinching attention to organisational detail. Above all, we at Teamwork believe in respect and love for the artist. For 25 years, Teamwork has presented the finest of Indian writers, artists and performers to our nation and to the world. In countries such as Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, Spain and USA, Teamwork produces over 21 highly acclaimed performing arts, visual arts and literary festivals. A distinctly versatile entertainment company, Teamwork has roots in the performing arts, social movement, and the corporate world. Our expertise lies in the areas of entertainment such as television, 40 film - documentary and feature, and the creation and development of contemporary performing arts, visual arts & literary festivals across the world. We strongly believe in nurturing new talent across all art forms. Among the many festivals we produce is the annual Jaipur Literature Festival, which is Asia’s biggest literary gathering, Our musical extravaganza, Bollywood Love Story- A Musical continues to tour the world. The annual Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) and the Ishara International Puppet Festival has been consistently successful. Official Hospitality Partner Official Wine Partner “THE GRANDEST LITERARY FESTIVAL OF THEM ALL” - MAIL ON SUNDAY Produced by Follow the festival on Facebook: @JaipurLitFestOfficial Twitter: @JaipurLitFest Instagram: @JaipurLitFest teamworkarts.com 41
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