Come June 8, 2018, London's iconic British Library will be transformed for two days as the fifth edition of the ZEE JLF at The British Library fills its halls to showcaseSouth Asias literary heritage, oral traditions, performing arts, books and ideas. Don't miss out on the dialogues and debates from across the region highlighting the cultural and social diversity found within it.
The event from June 8-10, co-directed by Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple, is often referred to asthe greatest literary show on Earth to UK audiences. The speakers included in this year's programmeincludeShashi Tharoor, who discusses his new bookWhy I Am a HinduJohn Zubryczki talks about his latest workEmpire of EnchantmentRobin Jeffrey, author ofWaste of a Nation, one of Indias most acclaimed young poetsTishani Doshi, South Korean authorSuki Kim, American investigative journalistKatherine Boo, railway historianChristian Wolmar, the Indian film industry's power coupleShabana AzmiandJaved Akhtar, economistLordMeghnad Desaiand Islamic historianFaisal Devji.
The weekend features sessions that highlight the centenary of the start of the British womens suffragette movement and its progress since, and traverse the life and legacy of Winston Churchill, one of history's most complex and divisive figures.
Contemporary political issues are debated across a range of sessions. Exile and Insurgency questions the actions of those who take up arms against established governments while Why I Am A Hindu considers the vital contribution of religion to a plural and secular democracy. Discussions on the geopolitical jigsaws of the Himalayan region sit alongside debates around the issue of waste and sanitation in India. Other sessions provide a gripping and rare first-hand account of an undercover writer in North Korea and get to the bottom of the mystery around one of the heroes of Indias independence movement.
The programmes literary discussions look at a variety of subjects such as poetry, ranging from the pre-modern Sufi genre to contemporary legends such as Jan Nisar and Kaifi and Doshi. Translations...An Equal Music delves into translation and how it impacts access to and understanding of individual and national narratives, highlighting the process and practice of translation along with the discipline and aesthetics of voice, interpretation and technique across source and target languages. The Fictional Leap explores the reconstruction of the past, the axis between truth and fiction and the leap of faith into historical fiction.
There are also discussions on the impact of the British Empire through sessions on Lady Edwina Mountbatten as the charismatic Last Vicereine in the context of Indian Independence, Partition and the legacy of British rule and one on the Railways and the Raj, which explores the fascinating transformative role of the Indian railway network, a creation of the British Raj.
Other sessions examine the diversity of artistic heritage in South Asia, including Islamic calligraphy, Indian classical music (with a focus on the sarod), two brilliant painters from 18thcentury India (Nainsukh and Manaku), songs from Sufi saints Bulleh Shah and Shah Abdul Latif and the untold stories of Indian magic.
More informationZEE JLF at The British Library