ZEE JLF @ British Library

ZEE JLF @The British Library, the ‘the greatest literary show on Earth’, will transform the iconic spaces of the British Library for the first time on May 20th & 21st. Over 70 eminent authors and thinkers from across the globe will explore the ‘Ideas of India’ in a richly diverse programme that will showcase South Asia’s unique multilingual literary heritage and the Festival’s global appeal.

Festival co-directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple have programmed ZEE JLF@The British Library to provide UK audiences with a taste of the world renowned mother festival in Jaipur which recently awarded ‘Best Festival’ at the Outlook Traveller Awards, in celebration of 70 years of UK-India relations.

This festival will feature Director, Producer & Screenwriter Karan Johar discussing his frank and riveting memoir, An Unsuitable Boy, British film director Stephen Frears in conversation with journalist and historian Shrabani Basu, magic and illusion with Neel Madhav, The Beatles in India, exploring their 1968 trip to Rishikesh with Ajoy Bose and Philip Norman, an exploration of Migrant Words featuring Meera Syal, Lila Azam Zanganeh, Amit Chaudhuri and Prajawal Parajuly, writer and historian Roy Moxham and Indian MP Shashi Tharoor debating colonialism’s claims of benefit and development in The Theft of The Raj: The British Empire in India, a look at the world’s most famous diamond the Kohinoor with Anita Anand and William Dalrymple and prominent writers and things Arundhathi Subramaniam, Mihir S. Sharma, Namita Gokhale, Prajwal Parajuly and Meghnad Desai discussing their individual perceptions of the idea of India and what it means to them in Ideas of India as well as many other though-provoking and diverse sessions and with many more fantastic speakers and participants.