Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Inaugural Address
Address by H.E. Vikram Doraiswami, Dame Carol Black, Namita Gokhale, William Dalrymple and Sanjoy K Roy"
Professor Dame Carol Black is Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, and Expert Adviser on Health and Work to NHS England and Public Health England. She chairs the board of Think Ahead, the Government’s fast-stream training programme for Mental Health Social Workers and is a member of Rand Europe’s Council of Advisers, the Strategy Board for the Defence National Rehabilitation Centre, and the Advisory Board of Step up to Serve. She has compiled three independent health-related reviews for the UK Government, is a past President of the Royal College of Physicians, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and the British Lung Foundation, and past-Chair of the Nuffield Trust for health policy.
Namita Gokhale is the co-founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival and the author of twenty-five works of fiction and non-fiction. Her iconic debut novel, Paro: Dreams of Passion, published in 1984 by Chatto & Windus, was issued as a Penguin Modern Classic in India and has been re-republished in the UK by HopeRoad. Recent fiction includes Never Never Land and collected stories Life on Mars. The Whispering Mountains: Himalayan Folk Tales is another of her recent works. Gokhale’s writing spans different genres, including novels, short fiction, Himalayan studies, mythology, several anthologies, books for young readers, and a play. Gokhale is committed to platforming literary dialogue and showcasing the rich diversity of multilingual Indian identity. She is the recipient of various prizes and awards, including the prestigious Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Literature) Award 2021 for her novel Things to Leave Behind.
William Dalrymple is the author of the Wolfson Prize-winning White Mughals, Duff Cooper Prize-winning The Last Mughal, and the Hemingway and Kapuscinski Prize-winning Return of a King. His book, The Anarchy, was shortlisted for the Duke of Wellington medal, the Tata Book of the Year, and the Historical Writers Association Award, and won the 2020 Arthur Ross Medal from the US Council on Foreign Relations. Dalrymple has held visiting lectureships at Princeton, Brown, and Oxford, where he is currently a Visiting Fellow at All Souls. His latest book is The Golden Road : How Ancient India Transformed the World. He was presented with the President’s Medal by the British Academy and was named one of the world’s top 50 thinkers for 2020 by Prospect Magazine. He is a founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Sanjoy K. Roy, an entrepreneur of the arts, is Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, which produces over 33 festivals in 42 cities and 17 countries, including the world’s largest literary gathering at the Jaipur Literature Festival and international editions of JLF. He is a founder-trustee of Salaam Baalak Trust, working to provide support services for street and working children in the inner city of Delhi where over 1,30,000 children have benefited from education, training and residential services. Roy is the Co-chair of the Art and Culture Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and former President of Event and Entertainment Management Association. He lectures at and works in collaboration with leading universities across the world and has been conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of the University honoris causa by University of York, UK, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the arts and society.
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Website - jlflitfest.org
Facebook - facebook.com/JLFInternational
YouTube - youtube.com/c/jlflitfest
Instagram - instagram.com/jlfinternational
Twitter - twitter.com/JLFLitfest
#jlflondon #literaturefestival #inaugural
Inaugural Address
Address by H.E. Vikram Doraiswami, Dame Carol Black, Namita Gokhale, William Dalrymple and Sanjoy K Roy"
Professor Dame Carol Black is Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, and Expert Adviser on Health and Work to NHS England and Public Health England. She chairs the board of Think Ahead, the Government’s fast-stream training programme for Mental Health Social Workers and is a member of Rand Europe’s Council of Advisers, the Strategy Board for the Defence National Rehabilitation Centre, and the Advisory Board of Step up to Serve. She has compiled three independent health-related reviews for the UK Government, is a past President of the Royal College of Physicians, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and the British Lung Foundation, and past-Chair of the Nuffield Trust for health policy.
Namita Gokhale is the co-founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival and the author of twenty-five works of fiction and non-fiction. Her iconic debut novel, Paro: Dreams of Passion, published in 1984 by Chatto & Windus, was issued as a Penguin Modern Classic in India and has been re-republished in the UK by HopeRoad. Recent fiction includes Never Never Land and collected stories Life on Mars. The Whispering Mountains: Himalayan Folk Tales is another of her recent works. Gokhale’s writing spans different genres, including novels, short fiction, Himalayan studies, mythology, several anthologies, books for young readers, and a play. Gokhale is committed to platforming literary dialogue and showcasing the rich diversity of multilingual Indian identity. She is the recipient of various prizes and awards, including the prestigious Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Literature) Award 2021 for her novel Things to Leave Behind.
William Dalrymple is the author of the Wolfson Prize-winning White Mughals, Duff Cooper Prize-winning The Last Mughal, and the Hemingway and Kapuscinski Prize-winning Return of a King. His book, The Anarchy, was shortlisted for the Duke of Wellington medal, the Tata Book of the Year, and the Historical Writers Association Award, and won the 2020 Arthur Ross Medal from the US Council on Foreign Relations. Dalrymple has held visiting lectureships at Princeton, Brown, and Oxford, where he is currently a Visiting Fellow at All Souls. His latest book is The Golden Road : How Ancient India Transformed the World. He was presented with the President’s Medal by the British Academy and was named one of the world’s top 50 thinkers for 2020 by Prospect Magazine. He is a founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Sanjoy K. Roy, an entrepreneur of the arts, is Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, which produces over 33 festivals in 42 cities and 17 countries, including the world’s largest literary gathering at the Jaipur Literature Festival and international editions of JLF. He is a founder-trustee of Salaam Baalak Trust, working to provide support services for street and working children in the inner city of Delhi where over 1,30,000 children have benefited from education, training and residential services. Roy is the Co-chair of the Art and Culture Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and former President of Event and Entertainment Management Association. He lectures at and works in collaboration with leading universities across the world and has been conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of the University honoris causa by University of York, UK, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the arts and society.
Follow us on –
Website - jlflitfest.org
Facebook - facebook.com/JLFInternational
YouTube - youtube.com/c/jlflitfest
Instagram - instagram.com/jlfinternational
Twitter - twitter.com/JLFLitfest
#jlflondon #literaturefestival #inaugural
