Writers Kiran Desai, Jeet Thayil in second list of panelists at Jaipur Literature Festival

Booker prize-winning author Kiran Desai, who is shortlisted for this year’s award as well, and poet-novelist Jeet Thayil are part of the second list of speakers to attend the 19^th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival in January 2026.

The festival, slated from January 15-19 at Hotel Clarks Amer in Jaipur, will bring together an array of authors, thinkers, and artists, representing a variety of perspectives and disciplines.

The second list of speakers includes senior physicist at CERN Geneva Archana Sharma, economist Arvind Subramanian, Nobel Prize-winning economist Esther Duflo; Canadian journalist and author Tanya Talaga, former Taoiseach (head of state) of Ireland Leo Varadkar, art historian and curator Debra Diamond, editor of “Private Eye” and satirist Ian Hislop, and nature poet Alice Oswald.

The list also mentions art critic and broadcaster Andrew Graham-Dixon, novelist Ashwin Sanghi, writer Kunzang Choden Roder, historian Narayani Basu, nutritionist and author Rujuta Diwekar, chronicler of the Himalayas Stephen Alter, disability rights activist and writer Tarini Mohan, literary advocate and publisher William Sieghart, and Telugu feminist writer Volga among the speakers at the upcoming literary festival.

“Come January, the greatest literature festival on earth returns to Jaipur. It provides a crucial cross-fertilisation of ideas and literary narratives in our fractured world. The multilingual lineup of writers and speakers is as diverse and eclectic as ever, showcasing the best of recent writing from across the Indian languages and the globe. With themes that are classic, radical and timeless the 19^th edition of our festival provides windows to many worlds and glimpses into the future,” Namita Gokhale, co-director of JLF, said in a statement.

In its first list, JLF had announced the participation of Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk, Booker prize winner Banu Mushtaq, Chess legend Vishwanathan Anand, British actor and author Stephen Fry and former diplomat-writer Gopal Krishna Gandhi.

The festival boasts a lineup of 350 speakers and an expansive programme that spans a wide range of topics from fiction, poetry, and history to art, science, mathematics, medicine, and mental health.

It also delves into pressing global themes such as climate action, business, geopolitics and conflict, gender, translation, cinema, race, and identity — all unified by the timeless power of storytelling.

The initial lineup also features an impressive list of speakers, including celebrated Indian voices like novelist Shobhaa De, bestselling mythologist Anand Neelakantan, Sahitya Akademi Award-winner Anuradha Roy, veteran film critic Bhawana Somaaya, and celebrated authors Manu Joseph, Ruchir Joshi, and KR Meera.

Joining them are acclaimed international names such as British historian Eleanor Barraclough, bestselling author Hallie Rubenhold, renowned art curator Helen Molesworth, biographer Jon Lee Anderson, Chinese-British author Jung Chang, novelist Kate Mosse, and Lebanese journalist and author Kim Ghattas.

“The Jaipur Literature Festival is more than an event; it’s a celebration of free expression, diversity, and the power of narrative to build bridges. As we approach our 19^th edition, we’re proud to offer a platform where voices from around the world can engage, inspire, and transform audiences through the art of storytelling,” Sanjoy K Roy, managing director of Teamwork Arts, said.

The festival would also be parallelly hosting the 13^th edition of Jaipur BookMark (JBM), the B2B platform for publishers, literary agents, translators and writers, driving industry collaboration and global exchange.