Jaipur Literature Festival Announces Second Speaker List for 20th Edition
The latest list features Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Benjamin Moser, Harvard historian Caroline Elkins, novelist Claire Messud, biological anthropologist Alice Roberts, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Sir Paul Nurse and former British Museum director Neil MacGregor, among others.
The festival, presented by Vedanta, will mark two decades of literary exchange and cultural dialogue, with discussions spanning literature, history, science, geopolitics, identity, social justice, food, wellbeing and the arts.
Other speakers include Palestinian writer Adania Shibli, whose novel Minor Detail was nominated for the National Book Award and the International Booker Prize; historian Eric Cline; conflict-resolution expert Gabrielle Rifkind; Adivasi fiction writer Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar; poet and novelist Mona Arshi; Malayalam writer Paul Zacharia; and Marathi playwright and novelist Makarand Sathe.
The list also includes chef and restaurateur Ritu Dalmia, self-development author Roxie Nafousi, cardiovascular surgeon and health advocate Shriram Nene, author Suraj Yengde, Harvard historian Sven Beckert, novelist and critic Tabish Khair, and linguist and author Thangjam Hidustani Devi.
Businesswoman and philanthropist Akshata Murty, journalist and broadcaster Mishal Husain, art historian Vishaka N. Desai and Indian intellectual historian Ananya Vajpeyi are also among the announced participants.
In a release, Sanjoy K Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, said the 20th edition would reflect the festival’s commitment to bringing diverse voices and perspectives together across disciplines and cultures, encouraging dialogue that challenges assumptions and broadens horizons.
Festival Co-Director and historian William Dalrymple said the event had grown into an international platform connecting India’s rich traditions of storytelling, intellectual exchange and public debate with the wider world.
Namita Gokhale, writer, co-founder and co-director of the festival, said the forthcoming edition would embrace new ideas, evolving technologies and global perspectives while retaining its connection with classical literary traditions. She also highlighted a special focus on India’s multilingual literary landscape, with writers representing major Indian languages expected to participate in sessions, panel discussions and readings.
Over the past two decades, the Jaipur Literature Festival has developed into an international meeting place for writers, thinkers and readers.
The organisers said the upcoming edition would continue to promote literary discovery, cultural exchange and debate across a wide range of subjects.
