Bill Gates, Malala among speakers at Jaipur Lit Fest

Hailed as the 'greatest literary show on Earth' and the ‘Kumbh of Literature’, the 14th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2021 gets underway from Friday in its new virtual avatar.

The inaugural keynote address will be delivered by renowned author Sir Ian Blatchford, Director and Chief Executive of the Science Museum Group and Dr Tilly Blyth, Head of Collections and Principal Curator, Science Museum, London. The Festival will be held from February 19 to 28 and will feature over 300 speakers and performers representing around 25 Indian and 18 international languages and over 23 nationalities as well as major literary awards ranging from the Nobel, the Man Booker, the Pulitzer, the Sahitya Akademi, DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, JCB Prize for Literature.

Speakers at the Festival this year include American business magnate and cofounder of Microsoft Corporation Bill Gates; American economist, public policy analyst and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz; Pakistani activist for female education and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai; Man Booker Prize-winning author Douglas Stuart; journalist and Pulitzer awardee Jeffrey Gettleman, to name a few.

Author and Jaipur Literature Festival Co-Director Namita Gokhale said, “ The virtual edition of Jaipur Literature Festival 2021 is an absorbing immersive experience where we encounter an outstanding roster of great writers from around the world. The challenges and disruptions of 2020 have transformed into the triumphs of 2021.”