There is something appealing about a literature festival that refuses to stay put. The Jaipur Literature Festival’s Island of Ireland edition concluded yesterday after 10 days of conversations and performances spread across Belfast, Armagh, Dundalk, and Dublin – the first time JLF has travelled as an all-island event.
Belfast’s Ulster University opened proceedings, followed by Armagh’s Robinson Library. Dublin closed things out at Trinity College and St Patrick’s Cathedral. The speaker list ranged from Shashi Tharoor and Leo Varadkar to William Dalrymple, Fintan O’Toole, Tishani Doshi, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Aanchal Malhotra, Roy Foster, and Jan Carson.
The festival’s distinct feature – that Ireland and India share more than a complicated relationship with the British Empire – gave proceedings a spine. The music underlined it with a collaboration between sarod player Soumik Datta (Aga Khan Music Award winner), pianist Michael Gallen, and bodhrán virtuoso Cormac Byrne.
Discussions ranged from the rise of identity politics and strongman rule to the future of multilateralism, the enduring legacy of Partition in Ireland and India, changing notions of borders, migration and belonging in post-conflict societies, and the craft of writing across genres from crime fiction to theatre.
The festival had backing from the Government of Ireland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. After the completion of the first two legs, Irish Ambassador to India Kevin Kelly had said, “As JLF Island of Ireland continues its journey across the island, the festival is already demonstrating the power of literature and the arts in connecting communities, encouraging dialogue and debate, and building meaningful international cultural partnerships between Ireland and India.”
“For the first time, the festival has rolled out and crossed borders. This 10-day festival is the longest JLF in any country, including India. Many of the conversations, whether on empire, famine, or reunification, seem to have touched a chord. The festival has been hugely successful - using a platform to speak about difficult issues that otherwise you wouldn't be able to speak about,” Teamwork Arts Managing Director Sanjoy Roy told Newslaundry.
“There is so much common ground between what has happened here and in India, both in terms of our colonial past and our contemporary experiences,” he added.
If all this talk of books, ideas, and cross-cultural literary friendships has left you wanting more, the Newslaundry and The News Minute Book Club is now open for registration. It exists because of you, and with characteristic self-awareness, we admit we were late to launch it because we got distracted reading.
Does it read like the most reassuring origin story a book club has ever had?
Sign up for the newsletter, Tell Tales, and consider this your invitation to keep the conversation going long after the festival caravans have parked.
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