Jaipur Literature Festival held in Houston

Houston, September 16

The second edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) was held in Houston from September 13 to 14, enthralling bibliophiles and art lovers alike.

Hailed as one of the greatest literary shows globally, the JLF after Houston will be held in New York from September 17-18 and in Colorado from September 21-22.

Musicians Shruthi Vishwanath and Vivek Virani kickstarted the proceedings on Saturday at the Asia Society here, followed by panel discussions on literature, environment, healing, art and history.

“By sharing each other’s stories, we can all learn, especially today when America needs to understand the value of what immigrants contribute to society,” Sanjoy K Roy, managing director of Teamwork Arts and festival producer, said.

In conversation with Roy, Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala shared the highs and lows of her career, relationships and her battle with ovarian cancer.

Koirala spoke on the pressures of a film career, the life choices she was compelled to make, and how she redefined her priorities and regained a sense of balance and well-being.

In another stimulating session, award-winning author and poet Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni spoke on the inspiration for her to write ‘The Forest of Enchantments’, which is a retelling of the Indian epic Ramayana from Sita’s point of view.

Pulitzer prize-winner Lawrence Wright talked about Texas being seen as one of the most controversial states in the US, which is the theme of his 2018 book ‘God Save Texas’.

Other participating writers included Bapsi Sidhwa, Chandrahas Choudhury, Daniela Arnold, Deborah Mouton, Edward Carey, Makarand R Paranjape, Mat Johnson, Mike Magee, Mira Jacob, Monique Truong, Namita Gokhale, Priyamvada Natarajan, Purushottam Agrawal, Sohaila Abdulali, Sunanda Vashisht, Susan Abulhawa, Usha Akella, Vivek Virani and William Dalrymple, among others. PTI