The ‘greatest literary show on Earth’, the Jaipur Literature Festival, returns with its 13th edition starting from 23rd to 27th January 2020. This edition’s running theme ‘Women Uninterrupted’ will bring to the fore several pressing issues of women in the repertoire of discussions.
The grand dame of global literary festivals will feature two much-loved and inspirational Hindi writers speak of their work and the process of carving out voice and visibility for feminine perspectives. Chitra Mudgal is a prolific and much-awarded author of over thirty books whose vibrant and passionate prose reaches out across generations. She is the first Indian woman to have received the coveted Vyas Samman award for her novel Avaan and the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award. Anamika is the author of several award-winning poetry collections and novels, deeply inspired by folk traditions and the metaphysical strains of the rebel Bhakta poets. In a session titled “Ek Zameen Apni: Writing the Feminine”, Chitra Mudgal and Anamika in conversation with Nishtha Gautam, Opinion Editor at The Quint, will discuss their books, their beliefs and the core of conviction that sustains their writing practice.
A woman’s work is never done. But Indian women’s participation in the workforce is decreasing steadily, even as figures rise in the rest of the world. An insightful discussion on women and their work with anecdotal insights and perspectives, to analyse current realities and ponder on how to understand, respect, and revive the role of women in the economic sphere, is on the programme. A panel of women from diverse backgrounds, including an iconic chef, Asma Khan, an ex-marine Anuradha Bhagwati, a social entrepreneur Amita Nigam Sahaya and a rural activist Namita Waikar, speak to journalist Namita Bhandari to share their opinions on “Women and Work”. The session will focus on the aspects of the causes and consequences of the roadblocks that come in the way of women’s working lives.
How does one capture the life of a woman in writing? How different is the feminine biography from that of a man’s? Biographers Bettany Hughes, Benjamin Moser, Jung Chang, Lindsey Hilsum and Hallie Rubenhold will discuss the difficulty of pinning down the lives of women to paper in conversation with journalist Anita Anand.
Award-winning authors Jung Chang and Frank Dikotter will explore the lives of three extraordinary women who helped shape twentieth-century China. As the country battled through a hundred years of wars, revolutions and seismic transformations, the three Soong sisters from Shanghai were at the centre of power, and each of them left an indelible mark on history. All three sisters enjoyed tremendous privilege and glory, but also endured constant mortal danger. They showed great courage and experienced passionate love, as well as despair and heartbreak. They remained close emotionally, even when they embraced opposing political camps.
Susan Sontag was one of America’s great literary stars. Her brilliant mind, political activism and striking image made her an emblem of the seductions - and the dangers - of twentieth-century history. Her writing on art and politics, feminism and homosexuality, celebrity and style, medicine and drugs, Fascism and Freudianism, Communism and Americanism, reflected the conflicted meanings of an extremely complex word: modernity. Winner of Brazil’s first State Prize for Cultural Diplomacy Benjamin Moser will tell her story in conversation with publisher Chiki Sarkar.
The first British women to set foot in India did so in the very early seventeenth century, two and a half centuries before the British Raj. Women made their way to India for exactly the same reasons men did - to carve out a better life for themselves. As wives, courtesans and she-merchants, these tough adventuring women were every bit as intrepid as their men, the buccaneering sea captains and traders in whose wake they followed; their voyages to India were extraordinarily daring leaps into the unknown.
In this landmark session titled “She-Merchants Buccaneers and Gentlewomen: British Women in India“, celebrated chronicler, Katie Hickman will uncover these stories, until now hidden from history. Through diaries, letters and memoirs, many still in manuscript form, her book reveals the extraordinary life and times of hundreds of women who made their way across the seas and changed history.
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