You have to plan days in advance to catch the sessions you want to at the Jaipur Literature Festival, which runs from January 21 to 25, 2015. It’s a complex logistical exercise of identifying the venue, pinpointing the time, and finding even standing room. Our contribution to simplifying your literary life.
Akhil Sharma took almost 13 years to write his second novel, Family Life. In interviews, he rues the length of time he spent writing it. Yet, one can see why it would be incredibly difficult to create what one would consider enduring art out of a harrowing personal tragedy; the story is closely based on Sharma's own life, centred around a tragic accident his older brother had as a teenager. Published in 2014, the novel has won critical acclaim, as has Sharma's earlier work, which includes a series of short stories, and his first novel, An Obedient Father.
Alberto Manguel is known for being a writer on books and reading. His enormous personal library has been featured on The New York Times. The Independent once described him as 'a one-man global campaign for the value of literature and reading.' He has created hundreds of works, including novels, essays, translations, criticism, and anthologies. He was born in Buenos Aires, is Canadian, and lives in France.
Eimear McBride's debut, A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, was published by Galley Beggar, a small press in Norwich, after many rejections by bigger publishing houses. It has been widely recognised as a trail blazer, and has won many prestigious awards, including the Geoffrey Faber prize. It tells the stream of consciousness story of a young woman's relationship with her brother, who is afflicted by a brain tumour.
Hakan Nesser is a Swedish crime fiction writer who has authored over twenty works. The books in his series featuring Inspector Van Veeteren, set in a fictional town called Maardam in an unidentified north European country, are available in English. He is a three-time winner of the Best Swedish Crime Novel Award.
Sarah Waters is a Welsh novelist, beloved for her portrayal of British society. Five of her six novels feature lesbian protagonists, including her latest, The Paying Guests. It is set in the inter-war period, and tells the story of 26-year-old single woman Frances, and her lodgers, Leonard and Lilian Barber. Waters' observations on class, the place of women, and about lesbian relationships are central to her works, which have lent themselves to several screen adaptations.
Hisham Matar is a Libyan novelist who has written about life under Gaddafi. His debut, In the Country of Men, was shortlisted for the Booker prize and the Guardian First Book award, and won the Ondaatje Prize. Matar's father, an opponent of Gaddafi's regime, was kidnapped in Cairo in 2002, and has been missing ever since. His second novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance, is not an autobiographical work, however.
Helon Habila is a Nigerian-born writer of poetry and prose. His award-winning debut novel is Waiting for an Angel, about the journey of a journalist living under brutal military rule in Lagos. His second novel, Measuring Time, is about twin brothers living in the Nigerian village of Keti. Habila has received acclaim and awards for his short stories and poetry. He has edited two anthologies, and teaches creative writing.
Vijay Sheshadri won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for his collection of poetry, 3 Sections. The Indian-born American poet, essayist, and critic teaches at the Sarah Lawrence college in New York. He is famous for his poem on 9/11, entitled The Disappearances, which appeared on the back cover of The New Yorker magazine. Sheshadri has cited Walt Whitman as a vital influence, saying that Whitman is 'in the air' when he writes.
Will Self is an iconic British television personality, and a prolific novelist and journalist. He has been variously described as the 'enfant terible of London letters', 'a freak-show sesquipedalianist', the definitive voice of 1990s Britain, and the most notable literary heir of modernism. He has been noted for his experimental style, and the unsettling content of his works. His latest, Shark, is a prequel to his 2012 Man-Booker shortlisted novel Umbrella.
Arundhathi Subramaniam's poetry has been noted for its freshness and power. She has published four books of poetry, of which the latest, When God Is a Traveller, was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot prize. She has also worked as a critic, curator, and editor. Her prose includes a book on the Buddha, and a biography of mystic Jaggi Vasudev, also known as Sadhguru.
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Akhil Sharma took almost 13 years to write his second novel, Family Life. In interviews, he rues the length of time he spent writing it. Yet, one can see why it would be incredibly difficult to create what one would consider enduring art out of a harrowing personal tragedy; the story is closely based on Sharma's own life, centred around a tragic accident his older brother had as a teenager. Published in 2014, the novel has won critical acclaim, as has Sharma's earlier work, which includes a series of short stories, and his first novel, An Obedient Father.
Alberto Manguel is known for being a writer on books and reading. His enormous personal library has been featured on The New York Times. The Independent once described him as 'a one-man global campaign for the value of literature and reading.' He has created hundreds of works, including novels, essays, translations, criticism, and anthologies. He was born in Buenos Aires, is Canadian, and lives in France.
Eimear McBride's debut, A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, was published by Galley Beggar, a small press in Norwich, after many rejections by bigger publishing houses. It has been widely recognised as a trail blazer, and has won many prestigious awards, including the Geoffrey Faber prize. It tells the stream of consciousness story of a young woman's relationship with her brother, who is afflicted by a brain tumour.
Hakan Nesser is a Swedish crime fiction writer who has authored over twenty works. The books in his series featuring Inspector Van Veeteren, set in a fictional town called Maardam in an unidentified north European country, are available in English. He is a three-time winner of the Best Swedish Crime Novel Award.
Sarah Waters is a Welsh novelist, beloved for her portrayal of British society. Five of her six novels feature lesbian protagonists, including her latest, The Paying Guests. It is set in the inter-war period, and tells the story of 26-year-old single woman Frances, and her lodgers, Leonard and Lilian Barber. Waters' observations on class, the place of women, and about lesbian relationships are central to her works, which have lent themselves to several screen adaptations.
Hisham Matar is a Libyan novelist who has written about life under Gaddafi. His debut, In the Country of Men, was shortlisted for the Booker prize and the Guardian First Book award, and won the Ondaatje Prize. Matar's father, an opponent of Gaddafi's regime, was kidnapped in Cairo in 2002, and has been missing ever since. His second novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance, is not an autobiographical work, however.
Helon Habila is a Nigerian-born writer of poetry and prose. His award-winning debut novel is Waiting for an Angel, about the journey of a journalist living under brutal military rule in Lagos. His second novel, Measuring Time, is about twin brothers living in the Nigerian village of Keti. Habila has received acclaim and awards for his short stories and poetry. He has edited two anthologies, and teaches creative writing.
Vijay Sheshadri won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for his collection of poetry, 3 Sections. The Indian-born American poet, essayist, and critic teaches at the Sarah Lawrence college in New York. He is famous for his poem on 9/11, entitled The Disappearances, which appeared on the back cover of The New Yorker magazine. Sheshadri has cited Walt Whitman as a vital influence, saying that Whitman is 'in the air' when he writes.
Will Self is an iconic British television personality, and a prolific novelist and journalist. He has been variously described as the 'enfant terible of London letters', 'a freak-show sesquipedalianist', the definitive voice of 1990s Britain, and the most notable literary heir of modernism. He has been noted for his experimental style, and the unsettling content of his works. His latest, Shark, is a prequel to his 2012 Man-Booker shortlisted novel Umbrella.
Arundhathi Subramaniam's poetry has been noted for its freshness and power. She has published four books of poetry, of which the latest, When God Is a Traveller, was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot prize. She has also worked as a critic, curator, and editor. Her prose includes a book on the Buddha, and a biography of mystic Jaggi Vasudev, also known as Sadhguru.