About JLF Houston
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.
This year, the vibrant energy of the Jaipur Festival makes its return to Houston. The 7th edition of JLF Houston is taking place from September 6th to 8th, 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 2023, we successfully held another onground edition of JLF Houston, following two successful virtual editions in collaboration with the Consulate General of India, Houston, Asia Society Texas, Inprint, University of Houston, Rothko Chapel, and Eternal Gandhi Museum Houston.
This year, we return to celebrate the distinct culture, vibrant diversity, and dynamic energy of the Bayou City. We once again bring forth our signature camaraderie, a caravan of ideas, and the enchanting flow of conversations that make our festival truly incredible!
Advisors
Murthy Divakaruni & CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI
A veteran management & tech consultant with 45 plus years’ experience in various US and global industries, Murthy Divakaruni is the founder of Performatica LLC, a consulting company. He is closely involved with several Indo American nonprofit organizations. Chitra Divakaruni is the award-winning author of 21 books, an activist in the fields of women’s empowerment and children’s education, and a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Houston.
DURGA & SUSHILA AGRAWAL
are an Indian-American couple. Dr. Agrawal is a member of the UH System Board of Regents and serves as chair on the UH’s endowment management committee. He is the founder of Piping Technology & Products Inc. The University of Houston renamed an engineering building after Agrawal and his wife, Sushila.
Hari & Anjali Agrawal
After leaving Haryana about forty years ago, Hari & Anjali Agrawal moved to Houston and created their life here - family, business, and community. Now their mission is to spread their beautiful culture to the future generations, especially their daughters and grandchildren, as proud supporters of JLF.
KRUPA PARIKH
has been with Inprint, a Houston based nonprofit literary arts organization, for 20 years and now serves as the organization’s Associate Director. Among her many community activities, she has served as president of the Houston chapter of Amnesty International and a commissioner for the Houston Commission on Disabilities under Mayor Annise Parker.
DR. MARIE GORADIA
is a former President of Pratham USA’s Houston chapter and is on the Board of Directors of Pratham USA. Dr. Goradia is also the co-founder of Pratham Houston Young Professionals. An active community volunteer, she serves on the boards of the Asia Society and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
MEDHA & SHASHANK KARVE
have resided in the Houston area for nearly 40 years. They are strong supporters of the arts. Medha has been a docent at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston for more than a decade. Being an avid reader, Medha believes that literary culture, such as what the Jaipur Literature Festival promotes, has an important place in the community.
Shazma & Arshad Matin
have lived in Houston for 27 years with their three daughters. Arshad is the CEO of Avetta. Together they are involved in many local institutions and nonprofits including the Houston Endowment, Texas Children’s Hospital, Asia Society, Baker Institute, Daya, and the Museum of Fine Arts. They enjoy traveling and hearty meals with family and friends!
RICH LEVY
is a poet and, since 1995, executive director of Inprint, a literary organization in Houston, Texas. His collections include Why Me? and the letterpress chapbook One or Two Lights, and his poems have appeared in various publications, including Boulevard, Callaloo, The Florida Review, Gulf Coast, The Hopkins Review, Pool, The Texas Observer, and more.
STEPHANIE TODD WONG
is the Director of Performing Arts and Culture at Asia Society Texas Center. Prior to this position, she served as the Executive Director of Dance Source Houston and Director of Dance Metro DC. She holds a holds a BA in Dance from Mercyhurst College and an MFA in Dance from George Mason University.
Teamwork Arts
From Concept to Curation and Design to Production
Teamwork Arts is a highly versatile production company with roots in the performing arts, knowledge-creation, social action and the corporate world. For over 30 years, Teamwork Arts has taken India to the world and brought the world to India, presenting the finest of Indian performers, writers, change-makers and visual artists in the knowledge and arts space in India and abroad. The arts of India are unrivaled in their depth, diversity and mystery and showcasing India to global audiences requires a deep understanding of her culture, an acute sense of relevance in programming, an unflinching attention to detail and above all, love and respect for the artist. Our expertise spans the sphere of entertainment and knowledge, and includes making of documentary and feature films, conceptualizing and developing visual, performing arts and literary festivals around the world which embody both a classical and contemporary India, and nurturing new talent across all art forms.
Every year, we produce over 33 festivals in 42 cities and 17 countries in the fields of performing & visual arts and literature; our venues include Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, the UK and USA as well as many eclectic festivals across India. We produce the world’s largest literary gathering: the annual Jaipur Literature Festival; JLF international now travels to the US, UK, Canada and Australia and the Maldives and Spain!
We produce acclaimed festivals across India such as the Ishara International Puppet Festival, the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META), festivals of magical music -the Mahindra Kabira in Varanasi, the Sacred in Pushkar, the Jazz India Circuit in Goa and the National Capital Region, the Jaipur Music Stage in Jaipur and the monthly Under the Banyan Tree which happens on a “Full Moon” night in Delhi.
Our international festivals include India by the Nile in Egypt, India by the Bay in Hong Kong, Confluence - A Festival of India in Australia, India in the Sunshine City in Zimbabwe , India by the Bosphorus in Turkey, India in the Alps in Switzerland and many more. Our musical extravaganza, Bollywood Love Story - A Musical, continues to tour the world with sold-out shows everywhere it is held.
Even amidst the upheaval and unsettling times of 2020 and through 2021, Teamwork Arts successfully launched the digital series, ‘JLF Brave New World’ and ‘Words Are Bridges’, which were viewed by over 4.8 million people in their first season. Through its digital avatar, the Jaipur Literature Festival reached over 27 million viewers in January 2021 and brought together the world’s leading commentators and writers. Amidst the pandemic, Teamwork Arts also created ‘Art Matters’ - an initiative empowering artistes across India to collaborate across genres by commissioning them to create new works. It has since then raised awareness, actioned change, developed support channels and inspired the community to contribute to the cause in various direct and indirect ways. The digital series ‘Be Inspired’ was launched in 2021 – a series that crystal-gazes into the future with conversations on science, technology, innovation, environment and more.
More information at: www.teamworkarts.com
