Jaipur Literature Festival to be held virtually from February 19 to 28

The 14th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) will be held virtually from February 19 to 28, its organisers announced on Saturday.

The literary extravaganza brings together a feast of transformational perspectives and literary thought in its remarkable line-up featuring some of the world's greatest writers, thinkers and speakers, they said.

Celebrated author and poet Mark Haddon, famous for his global bestseller 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time', will talk about the inspiration that guides his pen.

The festival will also see acclaimed and popular writer Philip Pullman talking about his vision of alternative reality. At another session featuring two disquieting novels, writers Deepa Anappara and Annie Zaidi will examine inequity and alienation across Indian society, and speak about their writing process.

Ireland's greatest living novelist Colm Tibn will take the audience to the roots of his writing process and celebrated career at a session on his bestselling book 'The Master'.

The festival will also feature an exclusive conversation between celebrated actress Priyanka Chopra and well-known writer and columnist Shobhaa De, discussing Chopra's autobiography 'Unfinished'.

Author and JLF Co-director Namita Gokhale said, "It's been a joyous challenge to work on the programming for Jaipur Literature Festival 2021. We look at our transformative times and try to understand the future through the lens of the present and the past. Our hybrid digital outreach has opened up a new universe of possibilities."

Writer and JLF Co-director William Dalrymple said, "Our spectacular Jaipur 2021 programme is now online. I am bowled over by what we've managed to achieve despite the pandemic. This is one of our strongest line-ups yet and we still have some literary superstar surprises to reveal.