Jaipur lit fest to host Nobel laureates, Booker winners

Jaipur: More than 600 authors from across India and abroad, along with policymakers, public intellectuals and Bollywood celebrities, will join the five-day Jaipur Literature Festival, many of them as speakers, as the renowned literary extravaganza begins Thursday.
From Nobel laureates to Booker Prize winners, and from Sahitya Akademi honourees and Pulitzer Prize finalists, this year's lineup of guests is a starry who's who reflecting the transformative power of ideas and stories. Sessions with literary icons and thought leaders over five days will cover themes like the fractured world in view of geopolitics and conflict, as well as theatre, dance, music, poetry, cinema, sports, food, and climate.
This year's theme is ‘Utsav' (celebration). The festival this year will delve into "narratives that shape our world and celebrate books that spark the imagination," said organisers.
Venki Ramakrishnan, the Nobel laureate in chemistry, will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural session. Abhijit Banerjee, co-recipient of the 2019 Nobel Prize in economics, will shed light on his latest book on Indian food, culture, and society. His wife Esther Duflo, also a 2019 Nobel laureate in economics, will talk about her work. Kanhaiya Lal Sethia Award for Poetry will be given to Badri Narayan, recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award 2022. Jenny Erpenbeck (Booker Prize, 2024) and Geetanjali Shree (Booker Prize, 2022) will also speak at the event, and so will Pulitzer awardees Benjamin Moser and Nathan Thrall.
The festival also features Shashi Tharoor, Sudha Murthy, and historian Anirudh Kanisetti.