The Jaipur Literature Festival Swells
- Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
- Up to 100,000 people are expected to come to Jaipur for its annual literary festival.
Jaipur's annual literary festival began with "a few readings" on the edge of a small arts event, according to historian and travel writer William Dalrymple, one of its co-founders.
This year, with Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra, Jamaica Kincaid, Lionel Shriver and Richard Dawkins among its lineup, organizers expect as many as 100,000 attendees to turn up in this arid Indian city. They have expanded the outdoor areas where most of the panel sessions and talks will be held, and a new venue targeting younger audiences has been set up on a rooftop.
The five-day DSC Jaipur Literature Festival, which starts Friday, temporarily takes
- Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
- Oprah Winfrey tours Mumbai with Australian author Gregory Roberts ahead of her visit to Jaipur, where she is one of the biggest names on the city's literary festival lineup this year.
over Jaipur, a city of 6.6 million also known as the Pink City for the color of its sandstone buildings. Diggi Palace, a centuries-old mansion-turned hotel that doubles as the festival grounds, booked up in days after the festival's dates were announced (and before the speaker lineup was released).
"Of the many literary festivals in India, Jaipur is the big one. It's the one to go and be seen at," says novelist Samit Basu, who has attended in previous years and has several speaking slots — including a talk on designing imaginary worlds — for the first time this year.
"Writing can be a solitary and dreary profession," he adds. "Jaipur is like the Oscars. You see the faces."
Star Power
The original idea behind Jaipur was simple: to provide a platform for Indian writing, in English as well as in India's many other official languages, including Hindi and Bengali.
An appearance by Salman Rushdie in 2007 was a turning point, attracting global attention. Tina Brown, Vikram Seth, Martin Amis and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk subsequently turned up. Last year, attendance hit 60,000.
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- Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
- Salman Rushdie helped spark interest in Jaipur when he attended the festival in 2007, but organizers this year said he won't attend this year as originally planned because of security concerns.
Although Mr. Rushdie is in this year's lineup, it's unclear whether he will return to Jaipur. In recent weeks, Islamists have voiced complaints, stemming from his 1988 novel, "The Satanic Verses," against the author's planned visit to India. Citing security concerns, organizers have temporarily pulled him out of the festival program but are hopeful he will attend.
This year, Ms. Winfrey is expected to be a major attraction. She will be on stage in a discussion with news anchor Barkha Dutt, the closest thing India has in star power to the famous talk-show host. Tom Stoppard, known for "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," will discuss "the art of the playwright" with fellow writers David Hare and Neelam Mansingh, while the world's most famous atheist, Richard Dawkins, weighs in on "the magic of reality" in a talk with "Doctor Who" actor Lalla Ward.
Jaipur attracts rising stars as well. Teju Cole, whose debut novel "Open City" found its way onto many critics' best-of-2011 lists, sees the festival as a way to meet readers and inspire new ones. "You turn up to a city that you've never been to before, sometimes a town, and if it's a well-organized festival, there's an auditorium full of people, many of whom have actually read your book," says Mr. Cole. "You are out there advocating for your work, in a sense advocating your vision of the world, in a very direct way."
"I find that quite enjoyable," he says. "I am participating in the life of my book."
Best-selling Indian authors include Chetan Bhagat, whose books have inspired such Bollywood megahits as the recent "3 Idiots." The session on Bhakti poetry, an art form cultivated by medieval mystics, is recommended to those looking for a taste of India's more esoteric literary traditions.
Ripple Effects
Book-loving attendees, as well as the scenesters who gravitate to Jaipur's buzz and star wattage, may spend the week unaware that others in the crowd are there to do business. The festival is a hotbed of activity, with publishers scouting for talent and writers for book deals.
"You can't imagine how much I get accosted at the venue," says Mita Kapur, a literary agent who plans to attend again this year. Indian publishers have begun rushing books to print in time for Jaipur, hoping to capitalize on the audiences and interest.
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- Jaipur Literature Festival
- A man sells tea at the 2010 Jaipur festival.
India's English-language publishing industry is relatively small but growing fast — a September study by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, a business advocacy group, pegged the market at $1.4 billion and said it is growing about 10% each year.
The Jaipur Literature Festival has had a ripple effect, with similar events springing up all over South Asia. They include the Karachi Literature Festival, a three-year-old event which Ameena Saiyid, a Pakistani publisher, says she was inspired to do after attending the Indian fest. "I got the idea from Jaipur," she says. For those longing for more intimate, literary getaways, there are now options from Kerala, India, to Bhutan, to Nepal.
Jaipur's success comes at a price. One of its co-directors, Namita Gokhale, worries that its star-studded lineup could overshadow its original intent of showcasing homegrown talent.
"As I see the festival grow larger and larger in scale, glamour and international expectations, this just adds to my resolve to keep it a rooted Indian festival," says Ms. Gokhale. Her job is mainly to get authors who write in local languages — India has more than 20 — to the festival.
"That's still the heart of the festival," she says.
In earlier years, Jaipur's informal setting helped demystify literature, giving writers and readers the chance to rub shoulders, but the gap has widened as it has grown in size and clout.
"Now it's too huge. It has grown cocky and confident. It has lost its charm," says Mayank Austen Soofi, a 28-year-old literary aficionado who attended the last three years but is sitting 2012 out. "The literary festival has turned into a jet-set show."
Organizers say the festival remains grass-roots — entrance is free and there is no VIP seating — and that the buzz will settle, leaving an event that is ultimately focused on words and reading. "I have no doubt it will stabilize," says Ms. Gokhale. "The curiosity-seekers will get bored."
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