JLF London Returns To The British Library

EE News Desk May 03, 2024

Teamwork Arts reveals a speakers and sessions line-up for JLF London, scheduled to be held from 7 to 9 June 2024

Teamwork Arts announces an inspirational line-up for JLF London at the British Library, scheduled to be held from 7 to 9 June 2024. This year marks the 11^th anniversary of the festival and the programme promises an array of sessions that span diverse genres and themes, including conversations on literature, history, food, Bollywood, politics, music, climate, technology and more.

In one session, Turkish-British novelist and essayist Elif Shafak will speak about her upcoming book, ‘There are Rivers in the Sky’, an evocative narrative of one lost poem, two great rivers and three remarkable lives – all connected by a single drop of water. She will be in conversation with celebrated historian and Festival Co-Director, William Dalrymple.

Another session will feature director Shekhar Kapur, known for Mr India, Bandit Queen, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and more. He will be in conversation with Sanjoy K. Roy, Festival Producer and MD, Teamwork Arts. Another session on Bollywood will see the coming together of Sunny Singh, author of ‘A Bollywood State of Mind’; Nasreen Munni Kabir, who has authored over 20 books on Hindi cinema and made more than 100 television programmes for Channel 4 and Yasser Usman, author of ‘Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story’.

In a discussion, Senior Advisor on Oceans to the United Nations Global Compact, Vincent Doumeizel and professor of Biochemical Genetics in the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products at the University of York, Ian A. Graham, will discuss the potential of seaweed in revolutionising our ecological and economic landscapes. They will be in conversation with writer and journalist Aarathi Prasad.

A range of engrossing sessions on history are in the line-up for the festival. In one session, historian and archaeologist Josephine Quinn will speak to Dalrymple about her book. ‘How The World Made The West’, a work that calls for a reassessment of the idea of the ‘West’ and takes a deep dive into a shared history lost in time. In another conversation, leading classicist Mary Beard will speak to Quinn about her book ‘Emperor of Rome’ and discuss changing identities, the clueless or even deliberate misidentifications and the challenges of modern assumptions about ancient imperial power.

A session on Britain’s idea of its own imperial history as opposed to the world’s experience of it will feature Santham Sanghera, author of ‘Empireword: How British Imperialism Has Shaped The Globe’, in conversation with journalist and historian Shrabani Basu. Hindustani music and musicians of late Mughal India will be the focus of the session with historian and writer Katherine Schofield, academic Richard David Williams and literary critic, translator and writer Saif Mahmood. Williams and Schofield will take audiences on a magical journey into the heart of Hindustani music, illustrated with evocative vignettes and snatches of poetry and lyrics by Mahmood.

In 1984, Namita Gokhale, Writer and Festival Co-Director, released her debut novel ‘Paro - Dreams of Passion’, which has been republished as a Penguin Modern Classic in 2024. Called ‘the first of the sari-rippers‘, Paro, an accomplished work of literary fiction as well as an unputdownable page-turner, has been described as ‘the first full length novel by an Indian woman that unabashedly dealt with sexual themes’ and admired for pushing the envelope on freedom. In conversation with Shrabani Basu, Gokhale will speak of Paro’s allure and how the provocative novel became a watershed and a milestone in the country's cultural history.

Vikas Swarup, whose debut novel ‘Q & A’, was adapted into the Oscar-winning adaption Slumdog Millionaire, has written a new novel called ‘The Girl with the Seven Lives’. In conversation with broadcaster Georgina Godwin, Swarup will speak about the trajectory of his writing career, exploring the ideas and words that have shaped his craft.

Food is an intangible trigger of deeper memories, feelings, emotions and the internal states of the mind and body. Taste buds have memories and the olfactory senses are invoked by writers in literature across the world. In a session, chef and entrepreneurs Karen Anand and Anand George and writer, translator and medical practitioner Tabinda Burney will discuss the intersections of food, culture and memory with Sanjoy K. Roy.

2024 is a year of elections around the world, with record numbers of first-time voters and almost half the global population casting their votes. An engaging panel featuring Tripurdaman Singh, Sarah Churchwell, S. Y. Quraishi and Alpa Shah, will scrutinise civic attitudes and constitutional safeguards that ensure true democracy. The festival will also feature A London Lark Rising, a dramatised walking tour showcasing the historical narratives of The East India Company, blending live performances with historical insights.