Asides

Jaipur Literature Festival Sessions We Are Looking Forward to Attend

After two (long) years, the most exuberant literary extravaganza in the subcontinent is back on its home ground, Jaipur. The Jaipur Literature Festival 2022 promises to be a literary paradise for gushers of good literature and conversations, and our in-house attendees cannot wait to meet their favourite authors! Read which sessions our wonderful team is excited to attend at the festival.

Akriti Tyagi, Associate Director – Marketing & Corporate Communications

Despite how fragile the state of the world remains, in some ways, life is starting to snap back with new strains of normalcy. Major sports events are reopening to capacity crowds, indoor restaurants are bustling, and air travel has nearly rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. The best part? After having struggled and suffered through the worst, brought upon by the lockdowns and the resultant challenges thereof, the publishing industry is slowly trudging its way back, stronger than ever! 

The Jaipur Literature Festival 2022 is back after a hiatus of two years for a five-day on-ground literary fiesta. The event will be held in hybrid form from March 5 to March 14 in both digital & physical formats. This grand edition will have speakers from all around the world, many of whom are associated with HarperCollins India.  

I am most excited to hear from the stalwarts themselves – Daniel Kahneman, Jonathan Franzen, Anindita Ghose, Bette Dam, Christina Lamb, Amitava Kumar, Remo Fernandes, Cat Jarman, Navtej Sarna, Navdeep Suri, Uday Bhatia, Balaji Vittal, Karuna Ezara Parikh, Naushad Forbes, Shivani Sibal, Hemali Sodhi, Anukrti Upadhyay, Vinod Kapri, about their insights on their respective works of literature. 

These are unprecedented times; many things that we would take for granted have changed in the recent past. But reading, and writing can never stop. The pleasure of reading a new book is like no other, but the joy of listening to your favorite author is unparalleled!  

See you at the festival! 

Udayan Mitra, Executive Publisher  

I’m there for the first three days of the on-ground fest. Looking forward very much to listening to Remo talk about his autobiography; the sessions on the film books Pure Evil and Bullets over Bombay; Cat Jarman’s session; Alka Pande’s session on Pha(bu)llus; Anindita Ghose, Shivani Sibal and Anukriti Upadhyay’s sessions; the session on The Book of Dog… There are so many more. 

It’ll also be great to meet old friends again, and to be part of the literary community that JLF invokes. 

Aman Arora, Deputy General Manager – Marketing  

I’ve been visiting the Jaipur Literature Festival since 2009. It was a Midnight in Paris situation for me, at first, as an English literature student and subsequently as a publishing professional. The festival has now grown into a global literary sensation, with sessions in Boulder, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Adelaide, Australia; and now the Maldives. Attending the fascinating workshops, music performances, talks with publishing colleagues and literature icons, the exquisite writer’s ball, and the sumptuous parties is certainly a delight. Namita, Sanjoy, and William Dalrymple, along with their teams, put their hearts and souls into making this special, every year.  

I’m looking forward to the session Changing Equations: Reading Our Times: Shivani Sibal and Simran Dhir in conversation with Supriya Dravid. Shivani’s novel was fantastic.
It’s a fabulous depiction of societal dynamics. And I believe it will be an excellent discussion too. 

Swati Daftuar, Executive Editor – Commercial  

Featuring Karuna Ezara Parikh, Anukriti Upadhyay, Nirupama Dutt and Rakhshanda Jalil moderated by Lakshya Datta Poetry Hour: Streaming the Multiverse promises to be a wonderful session, especially for someone who delights in listening to beautiful poetry read aloud. I’ve enjoyed the works of all the panelists and it’ll be a pleasure to hear them perform. I’m also interested in the ideas that emerge from the discussion between them – it’s an eclectic group of writers the festival has brought together, and I think their conversation will make for an exciting one.

The session promises to be: “A series of multivocal poetry readings where different languages, rhythms and styles converge in a joyous celebration of imaginative possibility.”

Shivendra Singh, Senior Manager – Marketing  

Veteran theatre personality Dolly Thakore is a feminist ‘foremother’, who has lived her life completely on her own terms, as an uncompromising equal to the men in her life, and by being as unflinchingly honest to her own truth as possible. In her much-celebrated memoir, Regrets, None, she, along with co-author Arghya Lahiri, brings alive another era – the glitz, the glamour, the struggles. She speaks candidly about love, sex, infidelity, motherhood, commitment, the ecstasy and the heartbreaks. I am excited to hear Dolly and Arghya speak at their session Curtains Up: A Life in Theatre at the Jaipur Literature Festival. It promises to be as beautiful, no-holds-barred and engaging as her memoir is!

Swati Chopra, Executive Editor 

Dolly Thakore’s extraordinarily rich life has spanned decades, continents and professions – film, advertising, theatre, television – all of which she writes about with endearing honesty in her memoir, Regrets, None. Every conversation with Dolly is memorable and one is sure to come away feeling inspired, moved, empowered in one way or another. Here, she will share the stage with Arghya Lahiri, who co-wrote Regrets, None with her. Also part of the conversation would be publisher and author Ritu Menon, who is the biographer of the grande dame of Indian theatre, Zohra Sehgal. Definitely a conversation I wouldn’t want to miss! 

Prema Govindan, Senior Commissioning Editor – Literary 

There are a lot of great sessions at JLF this year, and I’m excited about quite a few. 

Shashi Tharoor is a past master on the topic of imperial depredations in India, while Manu Pillai is a storehouse of knowledge on the history of south India. The session with the two, conducted by Ira Mukhoty, promises to be an entertaining one. 

Bollywood’s baddies are a subculture in their own right, and the Pure Evil session featuring Manoj Bajpayee and Balaji Vittal in conversation with Pragya Tiwari would be a trip down memory lane for a lot of us who’ve grown up on a steady diet of more-evil-than-the-Shaitan villains of Bollywood. 

Sandeep Unnithan’s Operation X session on one of the best kept secrets of the 1971 war – the Indian Navy’s role in it – will present some startling facts, and is perfect to celebrate the 50th year of the win. 

Hemali Sodhi’s The Book of Dog and Devapriya Roy’s Cat People ushered in the age of well-written, well-produced books on pets originating in India. I’m looking forward to their conversation with fellow pet lover Arunava Sinha. 

Trisha Bora, Senior Commissioning Editor 

JLF hasn’t been an on-ground event for two years. And I haven’t been an attendee for at least five. After all this time, I am very excited to return to the most buzzing book event in India and meet all our authors. The very fact that JLF has resumed is a testimony to the fact that books, the industry and its people (authors, translators, editors, marketing, sales, among others) will endure calamities and hardships because books bring joy, knowledge and pleasure against all odds. Among the many events, I look forward to the panels of HarperCollins authors Anindita Ghose, Meena Kandaswamy, and Dolly Thakore, whose books I read and loved. 

Bushra Ahmed, Commissioning Editor  

 The phallus has captured mankind’s imagination all through history and Alka’s book Pha(bu)llus : A Cultural History gives such unique views about this much-talked about body part. The book has experts from various fields, whether it is the phallus in art, or how it influenced martial tribes, or how fashion was centered around the phallus, this book is a treasure trove of interesting snippets.  And who better to discuss this fabulous book with than Ambarish Satwik! I look forward to some no-holds barred conversation around the body, gender and sexuality. 

Ridhima Kumar, Commissioning Editor 

I’m extremely thrilled to attend the JLF which is back after a hiatus of two years. I look forward to attending all the sessions, particularly A Thousand Miles: To Hell and Back in which Vinod Kapri and Barkha Dutt will discuss the migrant exodus during the 2020 lockdown. Their incisive reportage tells human stories of that unfortunate time that would not otherwise have been told. Stories which we must never forget. 

Join us at Jaipur Literature Festival from 10-14 March, at Clarks Amer, Jaipur. Make sure you also drop in at the exclusive HarperCollins India stall to win some exciting prizes, and also get a chance to interact with our wonderful team and authors!

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