Programme

Thank You(s) and Closing Addresses

Data represents one of the most valuable assets on the planet today. As millions of consumers continue to purchase online, corporations race to collect more and more details about their behaviors, needs and desires. Publishers and authors discuss how big data can be used to analyse book buying behaviour.

Libraries are increasingly becoming crucial community hubs that serve as centres of learning, communication, professional development and collaborative projects. They seek to be inclusive spaces with resources for those who wish to learn, engage and celebrate who they are and what they want to become. 

It isn’t about size or scale, it’s about choice. A session about the instinctive, often counter-intuitive sensibilities of independent publishers and the risks they take as they step outside the structures of corporate publishing. Legendary publishers speak about publishing books that need to be read and finding readers who must exist. 

Writing about food is a rigorous discipline involving cuisine, aesthetics and cultural context. Recipes need to be measured and calibrated, photography must be evocative and the book must become a part of the readers hearth and home. Some of the most talented food writers in the world gather to share their recipes for food and literature.

The Romain Rolland Prize awards the best of French fiction translated into Indian languages. The jury delves into the significance of literature in translation. The Jaipur Literature Festival and Jaipur BookMark are honoured to host the award ceremony for the third year in a row.

Followed by the Romain Rolland prize announcement, introduced by H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Lenain, presented by Leïla Slimani 

Cocktails co-hosted by Institut Français and French Embassy 

An immersive experience, a virtual reality installation adapting Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis by the Goethe Institut opens at the Durbar Hall on January 22. Thereafter, come experience the magic at the DC Books JBM Haveli.


 

While poetry remains a key to literary expression in languages and literatures around the world, as spoken word, digital and print expression, do poetry books actually sell? Instagram avatars clock millions of hits and matching sales but for most poets a published volume remains an arduous journey. Dedicated and engaged publishers speak of their belief and commitment. 

Translation is an act of ‘surrender’, of totally immersing oneself in the text. There is no place for ‘ego’ or ‘personality’ in translation as one gets ‘possessed’ by the spirit of the chosen language, piece of literature or poetry. Find out what keeps translators intimately connected with their art in this candid session.

Publishers often seek to tick the right boxes in order to appropriately represent gender, ethnicity and markers or diversity in their books. How do they strike a balance between mere tokenism and embracing true multiculturalism?

A great cover is the perfect way to wrap up the story within. How do we judge book cover design?  How important is a cover to the identity of the book? Designers, authors, publishers and readers celebrate five years of the coveted Oxford Book Cover Prize.

Followed by the announcement of the 5th Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize, presented by Namita Gokhale, Shashi Tharoor and Shobhaa De

Festival directors discuss the colour of money and sponsorship support as an important aspect of their profession. As international festivals are funded by both private and public foundations, which also participate in festivals in various ways, there is an increased pressure to bring on board sponsors, who remain untainted in this complex political and moral ecosystem. How do festivals remain authentic and relevant in their programming, and yet meet the increased demands on festival planning, cost and logistics? Find out how the most successful directors around the world overcome this challenge.

How autonomous are literary festivals in the contemporary cultural economy? Does the state have a role with respect to culture and the arts, especially in today’s fraught political climate? To what extent are they functioning independently from the state and sponsors? How do festival directors in particular tackle these issues, without allowing it to tarnish the image of their festivals? Festival directors discuss the challenges faced by them.

Can bookselling be pursued as a career? How does the publishing industry support booksellers? What are the opportunities to learn and grow in the publishing industry as a bookseller? This session will look into the realities of real estate and brick and mortar bookstores versus online book retail.

How much are publishing companies investing in skilling their young employees? Can the employees visualise their professional scope in the industry? This session brings out the challenges faced by employers in grooming and retaining talent.

A plethora of international awards recognising translations and the growing interest of readers has led to a boom in the business of translations. This discussion will engage with perennial questions of whether translation can capture the depth of literature and culture, and the role translators play in discovering stories from around the world.

Publishing is one of the most ancient industries and yet constantly adapting to modern platforms of storytelling. It is essential to discuss the emergent revenue streams for content generated across genres how they support and sustain each other. A distinguished panel will also discuss the issues of privacy and piracy in content consumption.

Great covers emerge from the stories within. How do authors envisage their book covers? What do publishers want? A dialogue on designing book covers that delves into the world of authors, publishers and readers.

Independent publishers with lower overheads are finding their niche position in the publishing industry around the world, even as publishing giants are consolidating their positions. This session talks about creative risk taking and the tools that brave, new publishers adopt.

Copyright underpins everything we do as an industry and without it all opportunities quickly recede. The principle of copyright is threatened at a global level and to a degree we have never seen before. This is true in India as it is in many countries. This session is a call to publishers, literary agents, rights managers, lawyers, authors and international book fair organisers for the protection of copyright.

The selling and distribution of books is at the core of the publishing industry, constantly evolving over the last two centuries. In this scenario, it becomes essential to examine the disruptions and creative innovations of book distribution and find new ways to promote and sell books.

At Jaipur BookMark, we are constantly trying to bring the best of Indian writing to the rest of the world and help facilitate the sale and exchange of rights both between Indian languages, and internationally. With this session we hope to begin answering the question that publishers and agents from across the world often ask: How do we get to know Indian literatures and translate from, into and between Indian languages?

While the publishing industry has tried to be gender-inclusive and is, in fact, increasingly being led by women, gender biases do still permeate the workplace. This session explores establishing and balancing personal boundaries along with professional growth.

The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival and Jaipur BookMark are honoured to host the award ceremony for the Romain Rolland prize for the second year in a row. This prize awards the best French fiction title translated into an Indian language. The jury will discuss this year’s entries and delve into the significance of translation, literature and cosmopolitanism.

Alind Maheshwari, Anant Vijay, Esha Chatterjee, Vikrant Mathur, Vineet Bajpai and Vivek Shanbhag in conversation with Arpita Das

Manisha Chaudhury, Payal Malhotra, Sugata Ghosh, Terri- ann White and Vikas Gupta in conversation with Atiya Zaidi

Daryl Shute, Dayanita Singh, Madhukar Purohit, Margrete Lamond and Rupi Kaur in conversation with Preeti Gill

Aman Nath, B.N. Goswamy, Dayanita Singh, Jagannath Panda, Maina Bhagat and Sunandini Banerjee in conversation with Alka Pande

K. Sreenivasarao, Deepchand Sankhla, Ravi Deecee, Vikas Singh, Maya Mrig, Shailesh Bharatwasi and Prashant Bissa in conversation with Aditi Maheshwari Goyal

Benjamin Dix, Gunjan Ahlawat, Nicky Arscott, Sunandini Banerjee and Zac O'Yeah in conversation with Lolita Dutta

Anna Cecelia Moulton, Annie Montaut, Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, Han Yujoo, Mridula Nath Chakraborty and Tara June Winch in conversation with Sudeep Sen

Arunava Sinha, K. Sreenivasarao, Mini Krishnan, Sukrita Paul Kumar, Tridip Suhrud and Vivek Shanbhag in conversation with Aditi Maheshwari Goyal

Alexandra Büchler, Ameena Saiyid, Cathy McCullough, Chandra Prakash Tiwari, Cherilyn Parsons, David McWilliams, Geoffrey Taylor, Janhavi Prasada, Kanak Chauhan, Kathryn Baird, K. Sreenivasarao, Maina Bhagat, Meenakshi Alimchandani, Mita Kapur, Namita Gokhale, Oliver Moystad, Prashant Kashyap, Ravi Deecee, Sanaz Fotouhi, Shyam Parikh, Sian Smyth, Ulrich Schreiber and Smita Parikh moderated by Sanjoy K. Roy

Adriana Lisboa, Eurig Salisbury, Hemant Divate, Sampurna Chattarji and Sunandan Roy Chowdhury in conversation with Alexandra Büchler

Akshaye Rathi, Anish Chandy, Anu Singh Choudhary, Anurag Kashyap, Arpita Das, Gaurav Solanki, Karan Anshuman, Kathy Reichs, Pankaj Dubey, Sameer Nair and Shailesh Bharatwasi in conversation with Vani Tripathi Tikoo

Akshaye Rathi, Anish Chandy, Anu Singh Choudhary, Anurag Kashyap, Arpita Das, Gaurav Solanki, Karan Anshuman, Kathy Reichs, Pankaj Dubey, Sameer Nair and Shailesh Bharatwasi in conversation with Vani Tripathi Tikoo

Aditi Maheshwari Goyal, Anuj Bahri, Jakob Sandvad, Kelly Falconer, Manasi Subramaiam, Mita Kapur, Preeti Gill, Urvashi Butalia, Vikas Gupta and Zac O'Yeah

Ashok Chopra, Priyanka Malhotra and R.P. Jain in conversation with Aditi Maheshwari Goyal

Akhil Katyal, Galina Lazareva, Mini Krishnan and Radha Chakravarty in conversation with Manasi Subramaniam

Annie Montaut, Chinmoy Guha, Michèle Albaret-Maatsch, Namita Gokhale and Renuka George in conversation with by Nicolas Idier