Jai Ho! This literature festival just got bigger

From Pulitzer and Booker Prize winners to powerful regional voices, the sixth edition of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival promises to be a blockbuster literary event

From Pulitzer and Booker Prize winners to powerful regional voices, the sixth edition of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival promises to be a blockbuster literary event

Orhan Pamuk, JM Coetzee, Vikram Seth, Patrick French, Junot Diazu00a0-- the list would please the lover of the written word. These and over 215 writers from India and the world, including seven Booker Prize and five Pulitzer Prize winners will hold centrestage at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival scheduled between January 21 and 25.

A session at the 2010 edition of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival

The five-day event that will unfold at Diggi Palace, will witness book readings, debates, performances,
children's workshops and interactions while the evenings will play be reserved for music performances.

Blockbuster fest
"We've become the biggest literary festival in the Asia-Pacific region," claims William Dalrymple, author and Festival Director. "We are not a big, sarkari organisation. We are just a bunch of enthusiasts doing it for free. A company with a formal infrastructure doesn't run this. We aren't attached to any body and don't even carry visiting cards! A quarter of a year is spent in planning this festival," he says, speaking of how the spontaneity in an informal set-up ends up being the fest's biggest draw.

Dalrymple quickly reminds us of the previous edition, when the festival became a victim of its own successu00a0-- "We had to cope with overcrowding. We hope to overcome those problems now, especially since nearly 50,000 visitors are expected to attend the fest."

Festival Producer Sanjoy Roy fills us in on the numbers. "This year, the capacity at each venue is three times that of previous years. The biggest venue can accommodate 1,500 visitors while the smallest can house 200 people. There are separate venues for music performances, children's workshops and food."

That literary greats like Nobel and a Booker Prize winner Coetzee, and Pamuk chose to attend the fest, speaks volumes of its standing as one of the world's top five literary festivals, reasons Roy, the founder of Teamworks, producers of the festival.

India on the radar
"This year, we hope to focus on the regional flavour. We have a multi-lingual tradition. There is plenty of good writing and publishing, and we intend to reflect this; after all, this is an Indian festival," says Namita Gokhale, Festival Director.

She reiterates the uniquenessu00a0-- "It's a remarkable experiment. On one hand, we have the big, marquee names while on the other hand it's a platform for marginalised Indian voices." The festival will showcase writing from 12 Indian languages, including translations, and also feature powerful Dalit writers.

A little over 60 per cent of the writers are expected to hold court at the festival. "Namita cracked it last year," says Dalrymple of the huge interest in regional literature, from Rajasthani poets to Dalit writers. It's easy to pack a venue for a Rushdie reading, but getting people to listen to a young Kashmiri or North Eastern writer isn't the easiest, he says.

Literary tourism
With a free entry tag, expect massive crowds. The event hasu00a0 turned into a biggie on Jaipur's tourism calendar. "It's by accident; Jaipur's tourism value is looking up. The buzz has already been created. Plus, there are great performances and debates in an arena where people can have a democratic discussion on politics and world affairs, to the environment and the written word," Roy maintains.

While the numbers will grow, the trio reassure that the festival will continue to provide a valuable and interesting experience in literary and visual content.

DSC Jaipur Literature Festival, Diggi Palace, Jaipur. From January 21-25, 2011. For details on daily schedules, log on to www.jaipurliterature festival.com