The Jaipur Literature Festival has established itself as the world's biggest free books event. The 2014 edition, which ended on Tuesday, attracted the largest crowds yet: 220,000 listened to 240 authors discuss their work over five days.
The writers featured this year spanned a range of genres and included Economics Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri, as well as popular writers such as Amish Tripathi, author of the best-selling Shiva Trilogy.
Among the most prominent organisers of the festival is William Dalrymple, the award-winning author and historian. He moderated several of the discussions himself, and picked out five of his favourite sessions for Scroll.
1) Jesus the Man, Jesus the Politician
Dalrymple said he was amazed at the contrast between the two speakers who participated in this talk, authors Reza Aslan and AN Wilson. The discussion revolved around the life and work of Jesus.
"Aslan is very engaging -- he was like an evangelical speaker, exhorting the crowd, while AN Wilson replied to each of his statements with his acerbic wit," said the historian.
2) Caravaggio
In this session, British art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon spoke about the paintings of 16th-century Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi o Amerighi da Caravaggio, who used ordinary people as models for his paintings of religious scenes.
"It was the best art lecture I have ever heard. He [Dixon] made Caravaggio sound like someone from a Scorsese movie," said Dalrymple.
3) Capital
Commonwealth Prize-winning author Rana Dasgupta discussed Delhi's elites with Dalrymple in this talk. Dasgupta has recently written 'Capital: A Portrait of Twenty-First-Century Delhi'.
His book "will do for Delhi what Suketu Mehta so memorably did for Bombay with 'Maximum City'", said Dalrymple.
4) The art of biography
British philosopher Ray Monk, AN Wilson, British biographer Richard Holmes and Andrew Graham-Dixon speak about the challenges of writing biography and their experience tackling the stories of such complex figures as philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russel, poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Percy Shelley, artists Caravaggio and Michelangelo, and Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.
"It was like a perfectly tuned string quartet," said Dalrymple.
5) Story of a death foretold
In this session, author and legal scholar Oscar Guardiola-Rivera re-evaluated the coup d’état of September 11, 1973, which led to the overthrow of Chilean president Salvador Allende, Latin America's first elected Marxist president.
The writers featured this year spanned a range of genres and included Economics Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri, as well as popular writers such as Amish Tripathi, author of the best-selling Shiva Trilogy.
Among the most prominent organisers of the festival is William Dalrymple, the award-winning author and historian. He moderated several of the discussions himself, and picked out five of his favourite sessions for Scroll.
1) Jesus the Man, Jesus the Politician
Dalrymple said he was amazed at the contrast between the two speakers who participated in this talk, authors Reza Aslan and AN Wilson. The discussion revolved around the life and work of Jesus.
"Aslan is very engaging -- he was like an evangelical speaker, exhorting the crowd, while AN Wilson replied to each of his statements with his acerbic wit," said the historian.
2) Caravaggio
In this session, British art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon spoke about the paintings of 16th-century Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi o Amerighi da Caravaggio, who used ordinary people as models for his paintings of religious scenes.
"It was the best art lecture I have ever heard. He [Dixon] made Caravaggio sound like someone from a Scorsese movie," said Dalrymple.
3) Capital
Commonwealth Prize-winning author Rana Dasgupta discussed Delhi's elites with Dalrymple in this talk. Dasgupta has recently written 'Capital: A Portrait of Twenty-First-Century Delhi'.
His book "will do for Delhi what Suketu Mehta so memorably did for Bombay with 'Maximum City'", said Dalrymple.
4) The art of biography
British philosopher Ray Monk, AN Wilson, British biographer Richard Holmes and Andrew Graham-Dixon speak about the challenges of writing biography and their experience tackling the stories of such complex figures as philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russel, poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Percy Shelley, artists Caravaggio and Michelangelo, and Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.
"It was like a perfectly tuned string quartet," said Dalrymple.
5) Story of a death foretold
In this session, author and legal scholar Oscar Guardiola-Rivera re-evaluated the coup d’état of September 11, 1973, which led to the overthrow of Chilean president Salvador Allende, Latin America's first elected Marxist president.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!