About Us

In February 2024, the 17th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival took place in the Pink City of Jaipur, Rajasthan. It was a magnificent success, affirming the power of words and ideas through a remarkable line-up of speakers and sessions. The Festival's indomitable and inspiring spirit reached our audiences, both digitally and in-person.

Experience the same exhilarating energy of the Jaipur Festival as it makes its grand debut in Seattle this year. The first edition of JLF Seattle will take place at Seattle University from September 20-22, 2024.

JLF editions, across several countries that include the US, UK, Spain, the Maldives, and Australia and in the Middle-East, seamlessly merge the rich multilingual literary traditions of South Asia with the unique essence of the host regions.

Through 2021-2022, virtual versions of JLF kept the spirit of creative conversations alive during the Covid years. Writers, thinkers, poets, artists, and filmmakers engaged in captivating discussions.

In 2024, at JLF Seattle, we celebrate the beauty of the seaport city of Seattle, nestling amid water, mountains and parklands, with its seven hills, vibrant trade and technology, significant musical history and pervasive university culture. Our hallmark camaraderie, caravan of ideas, and the enchanting flow of conversations will make it a truly unparalleled literary festival.

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Mission Statement

JLF Seattle aims to host a dynamic gathering of established and underrepresented writers, leaders, and performers worldwide, mirroring the vibrant ethos of the Jaipur Literature Festival. By uniting diverse voices, it will cultivate dialogue, cultural appreciation, and the profound impact of storytelling, inspiring audiences globally. It aims to foster a dynamic exchange of ideas, promote cultural understanding, and celebrate the transformative power of literature and storytelling. Through engaging programming and inclusive dialogue, it seeks to inspire, educate, and entertain audiences in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, representing a democratic and inclusive platform for literature in all its forms.

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JLF Seattle Staff

Alka Kurian

Alka Kurian is an Associate Teaching Professor at the University of Washington Bothell, where she teaches gender studies, literature, film, and human rights. She is the author of Narratives of Gendered Dissent in South Asian Cinemas (Routledge: 2014), co-editor of New Feminisms in South Asia (Routledge: 2017), and is currently working on her next book Transnational Fourth Wave Feminism. Alka is a recipient of the 2020-2021 Fulbright US Scholar award to Morocco and host of the podcast South Asian Films And Books.

Shesh Mathur

Staff

Ayesha Patnaik

Ayesha teaches in the Communication Studies department for the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, and at Shoreline Community College in the greater Seattle area. She is a new transplant to the PNW, after having lived and worked in the Upper Midwest for twenty-three years. Ayesha is passionate about teaching, including conducting study abroad programs, in which she has taken students to Ireland and India. She believes in the transformative impact of cultural immersion, and her interests revolve around travel, films and books, particularly themes that focus on the diasporic ethos.

Rick Simonson

Rick Simonson has worked at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Company, one of the US’s leading independent bookstores, since 1976. He is Elliott Bay’s senior buyer and founded their internationally renowned author reading program forty years ago. He presently serves on the governing boards of Copper Canyon Press, the University of Washington Press, and UNESCO Seattle City of Literature.

Pratik Sharma

Staff