Teamwork Arts in Partnership with HarperCollins India Announces the 'JLF – Words Are Bridges' Series

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Entertainment | July 1, 2020 | Press Release

Teamwork Arts HarperCollins India Jaipur Literature Festival Jaipur Literature Festival – Words Are Bridges

Teamwork Arts, producer of the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival, the multi-continent JLF and the recently launched JLF Brave New World, and announced a new online literary initiative - ‘Jaipur Literature Festival – Words Are Bridges’ to celebrate the fascinating diversity of languages from India and the literature they spawn. The series has been curated in partnership with HarperCollins India and will telecast every Thursday, commencing from July 2nd, 2020.

‘Jaipur Literature Festival – Words Are Bridges’ is an endeavor that will share the joyous rhythms, the unique cadences, and the range of literary wealth that span India’s linguistic breadth with readers and audiences. The first season of the series will concentrate on the treasure trove of literature in Indian languages and their translations in English. The first series of 8 conversations will showcase eminent writers and noteworthy translators across languages such as Bengali, Assamese, Hindi, Punjabi, and Kannada. The series will host sessions that feature readings in languages followed by English translations and conversations between the writers and translators.

Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director, Teamwork Arts, said, "Stories connect us to a notion of home and culture. In India, our vast linguistic diversity with over 23 official languages and hundreds of dialects are bound together by common threads of philosophy and tradition. Translations are a life-line revealing the richness of form and beauty of nuance inherent in language. ‘Jaipur Literature Festival - WORDS ARE BRIDGES’ celebrates this rich narrative diversity of a region in a series of sessions bringing together the best writers and their translators from across India, in association with HarperCollins India."

Namita Gokhale, Writer, and Co-director, Jaipur Literature Festival said, “We are excited to present our new digital platform, ‘Jaipur Literature Festival - WORDS ARE BRIDGES' At the Jaipur Literature Festival, we have always affirmed and showcased the many languages and proud literary traditions of India. This important initiative looks at the act of translation as mediation between languages and cultures, time, and place. India’s unique literary landscape, with its rich diversity and staggering multi-linguality, will be explored through a fascinating series of sessions that bring together writers, translators, and commentators.”

Preeta Singh, President, Teamwork Arts said, “Language makes culture truly accessible. In India, discovering the best in literary and linguistic traditions is lost to many and the ‘Jaipur Literature Festival – WORDS ARE BRIDGES’ is committed to harness the richness of Indian language-literature for audiences and brands that wish to embed themselves in the diversity of Indian culture. We value Harper Collins India’s partnership in this discovery.”

Udayan Mitra, Publisher - Literary Division, HarperCollins said, At HarperCollins India, we always watch with delight at words becoming bridges, as the books that we publish introduce readers to worlds often unknown to them. This is especially true of a translation that wonderfully connects cultures through the written word. Today, unfortunately, readers and writers are feeling more isolated than never before. “Jaipur Literature Festival – WORDS ARE BRIDGES” is a lovely initiative to connect us all over again. We, at HarperCollins India, are really excited to be a part of this program with Teamwork Arts.”

The series will feature some of India’s most reputed authors and their works. The list starts with Joy Goswami, one of the most powerful poets of Bengal and among the best in the post-Jibanananda Das era of Bengali poetry, in the session ‘Translating Joy’. In conversation with his translator, the poet and fiction writer Sampurna Chattarji, and poet, art critic, and cultural theorist Ranjit Hoskote, Goswami will discuss the source of his inventive, enigmatic and visionary verse along with others.

The sessions will be telecast simultaneously on all official social media handles of Jaipur Literature Festival including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.