Jaipur Literature Festival today announced the second list of 10 speakers set to appear at the 10th edition of the event next year.
Touted as the world's largest free literary event, the festival is expected to see participation by over 250 authors, thinkers, politicians and popular culture icons, with a special focus on world literatures.
"To celebrate its 10 years, organisers have decided to announce 10 speakers set to appear at the festival every week over the period of 10 weeks every Tuesday at 6 pm starting today," organisers said.
The first list which was released last week, was a diverse lineup of speakers including Pulitzer winning author Alice Walker, US-based author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Kannada writer SL Bhyrappa, Lebanese-American essayist Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Man Booker prize winners Alan Hollinghurst and NoViolet Bulawayo.
The second list too is a rich assortment of popular names from across the globe.
American poet Anne Waldman who has authored over 40 books of poetry, along with Scottish art historian Neil MacGregor who has worked as the director of the National Gallery, London and the British Museum, will debut at JLF.
The festival will see the return of Hindi-language author Narendra Kohli credited with reinventing the ancient form of epic writing in modern prose, Commonwealth Writers' Prize winner Vikram Chandra, as well as Italian publisher Roberto Calasso.
"Kohli returns to the Jaipur Literature Festival after appearing in 2013," organisers said.
British-Bangladeshi writer Tahmima Anam who won the Best First Book Commonwealth Writers' Prize for her 'A Golden Age', will be visiting JLF for the third time.
National Film Award winning Bollywood lyricist Swanand Kirkire who has also had a successful career in theatre as well, will also be present, besides British poet and novelist Ruth Padel.
"An award-winning critic and author, Padel has been publishing poetry collections since 1990, starting with 'Summer Snow' on history, 'The Mara Crossing' on migration, 'Learning to Make an Oud in Nazareth' on the Middle East and 'Darwin: A Life in Poems' on her great-great grandfather Charles Darwin.
"Her first novel, Where the Serpent Lives, was published in 2010 and is framed by wildlife, which remains a key theme to her work," organisers said.
The festival will also host journalists like British broadcaster Simon Winchester and, Dexter Filkins from the USA.
"The latter was part of the winning team for the Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for their dispatches from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"Now writing for 'The New Yorker', his book 'The Forever War' was a New York Times bestseller," organisers said.
The five-day-long festival will be held from January 19 - 23, 2017 at the Diggi Palace hotel in Jaipur.
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