Jaipur Lit Fest is one of the biggest literary celebrations there are, and with every passing year, it only gets better. Starting in 2006, this Jaipur festival has been the host to over 2000 speakers from around the world, including the Nobel Prize-winning Tanzanian author Abdulrazak Gurnah, and other cherished storytellers like VS Naipaul, Shashi Tharoor, Donna Tartt, etc. The festival, that is held each year in the month of January, started in the Diggi Palace Hotel but today has over 300 activities, talks, book releases spread over 10+ venues across the Pink City.
Jaipur Literature Fest 2025
This year, Jaipur Lit Fest’s primary venue will be the Clarks Hotel, Amer, which will see literary lovers from all walks of life light it up from Thursday, January 30th to Monday, February 3rd, 2025. The programme will start with an inaugural ceremony on the 30th morning, with the festival directors and noted authors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple’s address. Sanjoy Roy of Dreamwork Arts, who produces the Jaipur Lit Fest will also join them in the address.
Most exciting at Jaipur Literature Festival 2025
For lovers of literature, 5 days are barely enough. If you’ve been to Jaipur Lit Fest, you know the vibe we are talking about. There is excitement in the air, and sunny Rajasthan winters just add to the charm. Whether it is networking for budding authors, or readers getting to interact with their favourite writers, this Jaipur festival has it all. But as much as we try, can’t savour everything. If you are in the same boat, make sure you do experience these talks, and then indulge in some more if the time permits.
1. Gyan Seepiyan: Pearls of Wisdom
Start the first day of Jaipur Lit Fest with a bang! At Gyan Seepiyan, catch multifaceted storyteller Javed Akhtar talk about ‘dohe’, rhyming couplets which are an integral part of Hindi verse, and also happen to be the central theme of his next. In this session at the Jaipur Lit Fest, he not only will be talking about composite literary heritage of India and his passion for its different forms, but also launching his upcoming book, ‘Dohe, Mohe, Sohe’.
2. Poor Economics for the Young
If non fiction is more your thing, you can instead opt for this talk at the Jaipur Lit Fest. Poor Economics for the Young is Nobel Prize winning economist Esther Duflo in conversation with renowned illustrator Cheyenne Olivier who she collaborated with, on the book with the same title. The duo talks about their very intriguing book and the early foundation of social awareness and empathy it seeks to establish with young kids.
3. Recipes of a Dalit Kitchen
On the second day of the Jaipur Lit Fest, 31st of January, watch the author of the book ‘Anna He Apoorna Brahma’ or as it is called in English ‘Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada’, Shahu Patole talk to the celebrated food historian and author Pushpesh Pant. The duo discusses the book that was much celebrated in 2024 and the ways in which food acts as a medium of connecting communities. Must attend!
4. House Divided: Making of the Middle East
If you’re a keen reader of historical accounts and analysis, this is a Jaipur Lit Fest talk that you’ll enjoy. On 31st of January, attend this conversation between Tim Mackintosh-Smith and Barnaby Rogerson about his recent book ‘House Divided’, where he explores the Shia Sunni divide in the Muslim world, and how that has shaped the Middle East and world politics as we know it.
5. The First Eco-Warriors: The Extraordinary Stories of the Bishnoi
Jaipur Literature Fest has always been quite ahead in championing local stories, and this talk is a perfect example of this. On February 1st, attend this talk between Narendra Budhnagar Bishnoi and Martin Goodman, the author of ‘My Head For A Tree’. While Bishnoi community’s stellar environment friendly practices have been praised all over the world for many years now, the peg that Goodman’s new release takes is quite interesting. In the talk, Goodman discusses how the Bishnoi's practices not only are an exemplary form of indigenous activism, but also offer a powerful model for sustainable living and resilience.
6. Quartet: Four New Voices
If you’re a budding writer headed to the Jaipur Lit fest, this session should be quite an inspiring one for you. Watch the debutants Anisha Lalvani, Rupleena Bose, Nayantara Violet Alva and Atharva Pandit discuss all about weaving stories for the contemporary context, and their journeys as authors with writer and journalist Amrita Tripathi on February 1st.
7. Long and the Short
Another session at the Jaipur Literature Festival that is perfect for upcoming writers is Long and the Short. In conversation with podcaster Georgina Godwin, festival co-director Namita Gokhale and author Lucy Caldwell discuss all about different styles and forms, and the challenges that each bring with themselves. Happening on the 2nd of February, this Jaipur Lit Fest session promises to be quite an interesting take.
8. Shakespeare’s Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance
Representation is still one of the biggest issues women face today, and when it comes to classic art and literature, whether we like it or not, most of the biggies we remember have been men. In this session of the Jaipur festival, being held on the 2nd of February, catch the author of ‘Shakespeare’s Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance’ Prof Ramie Targoff in conversation with Katy Hessel as she brings to light the stories of the trailblazing women who shaped literary history despite the countless social restraints.
9. Mirrored Worlds
End your literary adventure at the Jaipur book festival with this talk. In conversation with author and diplomat Navdeep Suri, translators David Hernández de la Fuente, Radha Chakravarty and Arunava Sinha talk about how translation has been dismantling the colonial hegemony of English literature, and how an enhanced focus on it from the publishers has led to people discovering world literature anew.