The 5th Edition of DSC Jaipur Literature Festival opens to much fanfare
Jaipur, 21st January 2010 - The fifth DSC Jaipur Literature Festival was inaugurated in grand style today in the magnificent Diggi Palace. The Durbar Hall was packed with dignitaries and enthusiastic literature lovers who arrived to a fanfare of drumming and singing by Rajasthani musicians. The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival, which is free and accessible to all, has a global reputation as the leading and most exciting literature festival in Asia, as well as the biggest free literature festival in the world. Thousands of people from all over India and the world are expected to gather over the next five days to mingle with writers, film-makers, artists, Ambassadors and royalty of great renown, brought together by a love of literature and its capacity to inspire and entertain.
‘This year’s festival is a true blockbuster, with over 200 speakers and performers including winners of the Nobel Prize Booker and Pulitzer awards.’ Said, Sanjoy Roy, Festival Producer, Teamwork Films
‘It is a great pleasure to sponsor an event which so inspires and invigorates you.’Said Surina Narula, Festival Director, DSC Jaipur Literature Festival 2010.
The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival inauguration concluded with a fascinating reading about some of the greatest Indian poets by the celebrated poet Arvind Krishna Merhotra. A festival rapt audience, who alternated between rapt attention and raucous laughter as Merhotra read from poetry both sacred and profane, saying that ‘God is within, God is within and moreover, there is God to spare.’ He read from his translations of Kabir’s poetry which he did 40 years ago. He also read from Arun Kolatkar writings and called him the greatest Indian Poet.
Festival Director Namita Gokhale, who spoke in a combination of Hindi and English, said ‘The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival mirrors the diversity and plurality of India, and has established itself as a literary Kumbh where a confluence of languages and literatures meet.’ Said, Namita Gokhale.
“Besides showcasing the best of Indian-language and English writing from India, this year the festival will be importing a Nobel laureate, a winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, two Booker winners and five winners of the Pulitzer prize for literature, as well as leading writers from the world of history, biography, literary criticism, and travel, in addition to the stars of the world of fiction and the novel” saidWilliam Dalrymple, Festival Director, DSC Jaipur Literature Festival 2010.
