Starting today begins our very own Jaipur Literature Festival 2015. We have created a quick read of renowned Indian women speakers who will be present at JLF this time around. Have a look and plan accordingly so that you don’t miss any of their sessions:

1. Dr Alka Pande

Consultant Arts Advisor and Curator of the Visual Arts Gallery at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. She has been passionately working in the area of gender, identity, visual arts and Indian aesthetics with special interest in ancient Indian erotic art & literature as well as gender & sexuality. Her publications include – ‘Leela’, ‘The New Age Kamasutra for Women’, ‘Ardhanarishvara the androgyne’, ‘Indian Erotica’ and ‘Indian Erotic Art’.  

2. Shobhaa De

Shobhaa De

Famous author of 18 best sellers in India. Remember JWB met her in Jaipur?

3. Waheeda Rehman

Waheeda Rehman

The veteran Bollywood actress. She is appreciated for her classic work in timeless Bollywood movies and also for her ageless beauty.

4. Urvashi Butalia

Urvashi Butalia

Co-founder of Kali for Women, India’s first feminist publishing house, she is now Director of Zubaan. She is famous as an effective feminist India has today. We even blogged about her.

5. Shabana Azmi

Shabana Azmi

She has starred in more than 100 films and has won 5 Indian National Film Awards. She has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for both the United Nations Population Fund and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre.

6. Amrita Tripathi

Amrita Tripathi

She has recently published her 2^nd novel The Sibius Knot, a story about the ’90s, personality cults, and people outside of the mainstream.

7. Anindita Ghose

Anindita Ghose

Features Editor, Vogue India. She writes about everything creative – art, books, film and popular culture.

8. Anita Anand

Anita Anand

BBC television and radio presenter in London. She has interviewed who’s who including PV Narasimah Rao, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Pervez Musharaf, Tony Blair, John Major, etc. She is also the woman behind the book  ‘Sophia Duleep Singh – Princess, Revolutionary and Suffragette’. We told you about this, remember?

9. Anita Raghavan

Anita Raghavan

She spent 18 years at The Wall Street Journal and became the London Bureau Chief for Forbes in 2008. Currently she is a contributor to New York Times Dealbook and Forbes.

10. Annie Zaidi

Annie Zaidi

Written books like ‘Gulab’, ‘Love Stories #1 to 14′, and ‘Known Turf: Bantering with Bandits and Other True Tales’. Her work has appeared in anthologies like ‘Eat the Sky; Drink the Ocean’, ‘Mumbai Noir’, ‘Dharavi’ and ‘Women Changing India’.

11. Urmila Pawar

Urmila Pawar

Her autobiography ‘Aaydan’ has been a part of the syllabus of the University of Columbia (USA) since 2009. She is famous to speak against discrimination system in our country.

12. Suhasini Haidar

Suhasini Haidar

She is a Diplomatic and Strategic Affairs Editor for The Hindu. She has worked with CNN International as correspondent at its New Delhi Bureau and CNN-IBN as its Foreign Affairs Editor.

13. Sudha Murty

Sudha Murty

Some of her awards include the R.K. Narayan Award for Literature, the Padma Shri (2006) and the Attimabbe Award.

14. Shanti Raman

Shanti Raman

Bharatanatyam dancer and Medical official. She currently also works in indigenous health, and in investigating the social and cultural determinants of maternal and child health in India.

14. Nasreen Munni Kabir

Nasreen Munni Kabir

Written famous biographies like “Guru Dutt- A Life in Cinema,” “Lata Mangeshkar in Her Own Voice,” “In the Company of a Poet: Gulzar” and “Conversations with Waheeda Rehman.”

15. Madhu Trehan

Madhu Trehan

Started the news magazine India Today in 1975. She is now Editor-in-Chief of www.newslaundry.com, a website that critiques the press and media.

Closer home, we have 3 women from Jaipur who will be chief speakers at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2015:

1. Simar Malhotra

Simar Malhotra

17 year old girl, currently pursuing the IBDP from Step by Step International School, Jaipur. Last summer she attended a course on creative writing and Shakespeare at Yale University, USA. This inspired her to pen her first novel ‘There is a Tide’.

2. Anshu Harsh

Anshu Harsh

Founder and Publisher, Simply Jaipur. She maintains her own blog at www.anshuharsh.com and has received Women Appreciation Awards for women offering excellent services in 2014 and Calgiri & Canada, Rajasthan Association of North India (RANA) 2014 Award.

3. Jyotika Kumari Diggi

Jyotika Kumari Diggi

Owner of Diggi Palace, Jaipur. She is a social entrepreneur and is involved in multiple trusts in the rural areas of Diggi/Tonk district working for gender equity and upliftment of women in Rajasthan.

The fest is from 21^st till 25^th Jan. Do your registration here .