Interview/ William Dalrymple, author and co-director, Jaipur Literature Festival
Q/ Amid the absence of a lit fest culture back in 2006, what fuelled the early success of the Jaipur Literature Festival?
A/ In the early 2000s, Indian literature was the rage everywhere in the world. There were writers like Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai, and wherever you would go globally as an international author, you would run into Indian writers. However, you wouldn’t see them in India as there weren’t any venues or festivals where you would run into these writers.
Also, there are two sides to literature. One is the private literature―of the writer being read by a reader and the private interaction between the two that comes with it. Then there is the oral literature―the public performance―and India has always been very strong on this. We know there were literary gatherings at Sangam, in south India; there were literary gatherings at many of the great courts of India, where writers and poets would come together. In Jaipur itself, businesses began with poetry at the Jaipur durbar (court), and Rajasthan, at large, has a great tradition of oral literature.
So, I think we were putting the seed on a very fertile ground.
Q/ As a festival director, how do you look at this mushrooming of lit fests? Is it getting increasingly competitive, such as when it comes to getting top writers?
A/ We are lucky that we were the first ones, and still the biggest, so we get whom we want.
And for the other festivals, I am very proud that we kickstarted this, as there was nothing like this before we started. And now, it is feeding a hunger that is there.
But again, festivals vary in quality, and not all of them get the authors we are able to get, and certainly very few of them have the budgets to fly in the 50 or 60 international authors.
But festivals like the Kerala Literature Festival and the Bangalore Literature Festival have become very big.
Q/ Is there a concern that the JLF has grown too big, that there is now a gap between a writer and a reader that other lit fests are bridging with their more intimate experience?
A/ I don’t feel that is true. For example, I still get to meet the writers. While obviously, during the day, I am busy as the festival director, in the evening, there are parties where you get to meet both writers and readers. In fact, every minute of the day, there are moments for interaction. And I love the fact that in Jaipur, thousands of people gather to hear the writers.
But yes, different festivals offer different experiences. For example, the literature festival in Kasauli (The Khushwant Singh Literary Festival) is very slow, with a terrifically friendly crowd. And you go up in the hills and it is still cold when they hold it. It is enormously convivial, and they have a very good programme.
Yes, Jaipur and Kasauli are different―they offer different experiences.
But in terms of getting the big international writers of the year, no other lit fest does that on the scale we do.
Q/ As a writer, how do you feel about the rise in lit fests across India?
A/ There are two different things: there is the fun part of going to a fest, selling your books and seeing friends. And then there is the hard part of promoting a book. For example, as I put out a book last year, so I would be accepting more invitations and spending more time performing than I would otherwise. As a writer, you have got to balance the fun bits at the lit fests with the hard work of researching and writing. There are years when I say no to everything when I am finishing a book.