New Delhi: The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival which has often been described as the Âgreatest literary show on earth and the ÂKumbh Mela of literature has hosted nearly 2000 speakers and welcomed over a million booklovers over the past decade, evolving into a global literary phenomenon. A true champion of literary and artistic traditions and democratic discourse, it encourages freedom of thought through a range of voices from India and abroad engaged in informed and enlightened dialogue and promotes above all a love for literature.

This year, the Festival will welcome over 250 writers, thinkers, politicians, journalists and popular cultural icons from over 35 different nations. It will feature a spectacular line-up of speakers representing the major awards including the Nobel, Man Booker, Pulitzer,Padma Vibhusan anhe Sahitya Akademi Award. The first list of 60 speakers released today include  Akhil Sharma, award-winning writer and creative writing professor Amy Tan, author of the widely adapted book The Joy Luck Club; award-winning Indian film director and producer Anurag Kashyap, Indian art critic, art historian, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee, B.N. Goswamy, former president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, English novelist and author of the iconic Bridget Jones Diary, Helen Fielding, Man Booker winner and author of The English Patient  Michael Ondaatje;Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter from The Boston GlobeÂs Spotlight team Michael Rezendes; Sahitya Akademi Awardwinner Mridula Garg;2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laurate Mohammad Yunus, essayist and novelist Pico Iyer, best known for travel writing;New York Times bestselling poet and illustrator Rupi Kaur; Indian classical dancer and Padma Vibhushan awardee Sonal Mansingh; Indian philanthropist and writer Sudha Murty; Academy and Tony Award winning Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard; and Grammy Award winning tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, among others.

The Festival will open as usual with Jaipur Book Mark (JBM), now in its fifth edition, with a full day of programming on 24 January at Diggi Palace followed by sessions at a dedicated JBM venue at the Festival Hub from the 25-28January.

 The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival sets literary conversations, debates and dialogue against the backdrop of built and cultural heritage including curated art installations, world music performances at the Music Stage and cultural evenings at heritage venues like the Amber Fort and Hawa Mahal.

 Namita Gokhale, writer, publisher and Co-director of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, says, ÂThis is a vintage year for the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, with an amazing line up of international and Indian writers and multiple strands of thoughtfully curated sessions. A space to interrogate our changing times and to encounter poetry and the dreaming mind, the Festival returns with its unique brand of magic, whimsy and intellectual rigour.Â

 According to William Dalrymple, writer, historian and Co-director of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, 2018 may be the best Jaipur ever, fielding an unrivalled literary ÂFirst Eleven made up of star poets and acclaimed novelists, historians and biographers, thinkers and dreamers and scribblers and critics, and half the faculty of Harvard.

 Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts who produce the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, said, ÂAs we wait to celebrate yet another milestone year of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival in 2018, we look forward to the infectious energy of intellectual debate and the dynamism that charges the Festival’s atmosphere and comes from a mingling of celebrated minds, diverse perspectives, and heightened cultural experiences.