New Delhi: Close to its debut at Toronto on September 27-29, the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) is set to add an eighth country in 2019 “where the narrative is disturbed” and also make its presence felt at the Frankfurt Book Fair, its producer Sanjoy K. Roy said.
“We represent diversity and provide a non-biased platform. Towards this, apart from Toronto, we are adding an eighth country this year where the narrative is disturbed,” Roy, the Managing Director of Teamwork Arts that produces the JLF, along with over 25 highly acclaimed performing arts, visual arts, and literary festivals across more than 40 cities globally, told IANS.
“We aim to discover the undiscovered or to be the discovered voices,” he added, declining to name the eighth country as arrangements were still being finalised.
“We are each other’s stories. Across race and gender, language and culture, it is books, ideas and dialogues that define and connect our common human narratives,” JLF Co-Director and noted author Namita Gokhale said.
“At a time when the world is consumed by doubts and anxiety, the joys of shared narratives, of literature and philosophy, of music and poetry, provide deep solace and inspiration. We celebrate the arts, listen to writers and thinkers, and investigate and interrogate our ever-changing planet. Over the years, we have helped create a community of writers across cultures and continents.
JLF Toronto, set in the city’s Distillery Historic District – one of Canada’s premier arts, culture and entertainment destinations with charming cobbled streets, artists’ studios, cafes, galleries, and the dynamic Young Centre for the Performing Arts – will encompass a line-up of over 15 sessions of speakers that include acclaimed travel writer Pico Iyer, veteran journalist Daniel Lak, New York Times bestselling novelist Andre Aciman, celebrity Chef Madhur Jaffrey, former diplomat Shashi Tharoor, Indian High Commissioner Vikas Swarup and writers M.G. Vassanji, John Ralston Saul, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Izzeldin Abuelaish, among others. (IANS)
