JLF@Houston Returns to Asia Society Texas Center in Fall 2019
HOUSTON, January 29, 2019 — This fall, Asia Society Texas Center is pleased to partner with the producers of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) to present the return of JLF@Houston on September 13–14, 2019.
Described as “the greatest literary show on Earth,” JLF made its Texas debut at Asia Society Texas Center in September 2018. Over two days, more than 600 Houstonians enjoyed relevant, thought-provoking panels featuring a roster of internationally acclaimed authors and thinkers.
Founded in 2006 in the Indian city of Jaipur, the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival has hosted nearly 2,000 speakers in more than 40 cities globally in the past decade to fulfill its mission to serve as a beacon of free speech around the world. Other U.S. host cities include New York City and Boulder, Colorado.
The first JLF@Houston boasted an eclectic mix of internationally recognized and local figures, including Sonal Mansingh, Mimi Swartz, Navtej Sarna, Chitra Divakaruni, and Shashi Tharoor, with topics ranging from poetry to democracy to climate change.
Attendees of the second edition of JLF in the Lone Star State will enjoy a similarly wide-ranging array of topics, authors, and thinkers. A detailed schedule and list of speakers will be released in late summer 2019.
Press Coverage from JLF@Houston 2018
First Jaipur Literary Festival in Houston: Leading Authors Share Narratives
Jaipur Literature Festival in Houston Showcases South Asia's Best Literary Minds
Stories from around the world find home in Houston's first Jaipur Lit Fest
Jaipur Literature Festival begins in Houston
First edition of Jaipur Literature Festival in Houston hits a chord with audience
Asia Society Texas Center Hosts the Greatest Literary Show: Jaipur Literature Festival
About the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival 2019
Described as the "greatest literary show on Earth," the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival is a sumptuous feast of ideas. The past decade has seen it transform into a global literary phenomenon having hosted nearly 2,000 speakers and welcoming over a million book lovers from across India and the globe. The Festival’s core values remain unchanged: to serve as a democratic, non-aligned platform offering free and fair access.
Every year, the Festival brings together a diverse mix of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders, sports people, and entertainers on one stage to champion the freedom to express and engage in thoughtful debate and dialogue. Writers and Festival Directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple alongside producers Teamwork Arts invite speakers to take part in the five-day program set against the backdrop of Rajasthan’s stunning cultural heritage and the Diggi Palace in the state capital Jaipur. Past speakers have ranged from Nobel Laureates J.M. Coetzee, Orhan Pamuk, and Muhammad Yunus; Man Booker Prize winners Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, and Paul Beatty; Sahitya Akademi winners Girish Karnad, Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, M.T. Vasudevan Nair, as well as the late Mahasweta Devi and U.R. Ananthamurthy, along with literary superstars Amish Tripathi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Vikram Seth.
An annual event that goes beyond literature, the Festival has also hosted Amartya Sen, Amitabh Bachchan, the late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Fry, Thomas Piketty, and former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai. The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival is a flagship event of Teamwork Arts, which produces it along with over 25 highly acclaimed performing arts, visual arts and literary festivals across more than 40 cities globally. Over the years, Teamwork Arts has produced ZEE JLF at The British Library, ZEE JLF at Boulder, JLF at Houston, JLF at New York and JLF at Adelaide. Website: www.jaipurliteraturefestival.org
About Asia Society Texas Center
With 13 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and West. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach.