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From marginalised books and regional language authors to Pulitzer prize winners,this years Jaipur Literature Festival covers more ground than before.

Written by Pallavi Pundir

January 20, 2012 03:58 AM IST

4 min read

Books are not made to be believed,but to be subjected to inquiry Umberto Eco (The Name of the Rose,1980).

Italian philosopher and novelist Eco might as well have been talking about the much-awaited Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF). Every year since 2006,JLF,a brainchild of writers William Dalrymple and Namita Gokhale,has been host to literary giants as well as new authors. If Orhan Pamuk,Wole Soyinka and JM Coetzee were former attendees,there are others who are just-born-into-literature,like Ghanaian writer Taiye Selasi and Nigerian-American author Pola Oloixarac. Juxtaposed against the splendour of the citys historical architecture,the JLF experience has become bigger than what its architects envisioned perhaps. Its a mixture of glamour and rootedness that makes the festival such a unique experience, says Gokhale. In 2006,if they started with 18 writers; the fifth edition this month will see more than 200 authors from different genres,languages and nationalities. Fuelled by the live wire controversy will Salman Rushdie attend or not ever since the guest list was first announced,JLF visitors can look forward to more that just Oprah Winfreys orange-golden sari. Here is a curtain raiser.

The Poweratti: Apart from regulars like The English Patient author Michael Ondaatje,Carribean novelist Jamaica Kincaid,The Impressionist author Hari Kunzru,Rushdie,and Padma Bhushan awardee Gulzar,this literary carnival will also see first-timers,such as Academy Award-winner British playwright Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love),Nigerian author Ben Okri (The Famished Road) and Amy Chua,professor at Yale Law School,whose memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother took the world by storm. Important guests such as evolutionary biologist and novelist Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Pulitzer Prize-winner and writer David Remnick,who is also the editor of the New Yorker,will give a powerful dimension to the literature-centric event.

Inglish,Amlish,Tamlish: Gokhales concept of Bhasha,one of the significant elements of the Festival since its inception,highlights regional and marginalised writings. A pioneer in his genre,transgressiveTamilian writer Charu Nivedita,author of the controversial book Zero Degree,will be seen in the company of Dalit writer and poet Om Prakash Valmiki and Malayalam poet and writer Jeet Thayil. Even Inglish,Amlish and Hinglish will be discussed with Rushdie as one of the speakers on the second day of the Festival. Writer and gay activist R Raj Rao,author of The Boyfriend,will talk on Whistling in the Dark: Writing Gender.

In Conversation: Rushdie might be missing in action on the first day of JLF,but other conversations will keep the guests engrossed. Among these are David Remnicks The Disappointment of Obama; A Second Sunrise: The Literature of Dissent by Tamil authors Cheran and Charu Nivedita; Arabian Nights,a dialogue between Hanan Al Shyakh,a prominent author from the contemporary Arab world,and Houda Echouafni,an Egyptian-Moroccon television actress. There will also be conversations dedicated to stalwarts like Rabindranath Tagore,Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy. Besides,there will be discussions to commemorate the centenaries of Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto and English classicist Charles Dickens. A talk titled Dickens Women will be held on January 24,kick-starting the Dickens 2012,to be celebrated by the British Council.

Culture Curry: Besides traditional Rajasthani performances,like Jaipur Kawa Brass Band,Nathoo Solanki and Chugge Khan,there will be local dancers,nagada-players and Sufi singers on the first day. For contemporary music,Coke Studio India performances have been slated for the second day. Middle-Eastern bands too make an appearance: Dub Colossus,an Ethiopian band which merges traditional Ethiopian jazz,blues and dub with contemporary music forms; and Afghanistans Ustaad Eltaf Hussain Sarahang,who started his career as the royal musician in the court of King Zahir Shah,the last king of Afghanistan.

Parties: Publishing house Penguins 25th anniversary will be celebrated on January 21 at The Raj Palace (entry by invitation only). DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2012 will be hosted at RPG Goenka Baithak. Keep your ears and diaries open for private parties,as numerous such happen every year.