The Write People

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,Orhan Pamuk,Kiran Desai,JM Coetzee,Monica Ali and Richard Ford are among the more than 170 writers who will make up the next edition of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival. “This makes it one of the biggest gathering of literary minds in India,” says Sanjoy Roy,producer of the Jaipur Lit Fest,“With the Festival being seen among the top five literary meets in the world,alongside Hay and Edinburgh,writers are interested in coming to India. Moreover,India,with all its languages,is arguably the largest publishing nation in the world.” The festival,which turns six,will be held from January 21 to 25,as usual,at the Diggi Palace in Jaipur. Writers Ben MacIntryre and Fatima Bhutto,who have been part of the festival in the past,will be there this time,too.

Not only cerebral names,the lit fest will also feature Candace Bushnell,the American writer of Sex and the City,the book about Carrie Bradshaw and her girlfriends.

The luminaries are likely to have a special session as well as participate in discussions. Roy says he is particularly keen about Germaine Greer,who is considered one of the significant feminist voices of the 20th century. “She is largely a recluse now,so we were surprised when Greer agreed to join us,” says Roy,adding that the organisers are still in the process of finalising the programme.

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