What started as a sort of Woodstock of letters in Jaipur has become a diplomatic network in festival format that now also connects India and Spain via Valladolid. The JLF (Jaipur Literature Festival) Valladolid Spain 2025 is being held this weekend with an edition that will culminate this Sunday, June 8.
The official presentation took place a few days ago at the Spanish Embassy in Delhi, and it was not a symbolic act. It was, rather, a declaration of intentions. H.E. Juan Antonio March Pujol, Spain’s ambassador to India, said things one expects at these events (“culture is a bridge”, “stories bring us together”), but with an emphasis that sounds like there is something more behind it: an interest in turning this collaboration into a real axis of cultural diplomacy.
What is included in the JLF Valladolid 2025 program?
The poster does not skimp on names or contrasts. There will be sessions such as “The Real World of Fiction” with Sheena Patel, Jesús Ruiz Mantilla and Karina Sainz Borgo (in conversation with Jesús García Calero), or “A Spoonful of Home: Culinary Narratives from India to Spain“, a conversation between the Indian chef Romy Gill and the Spanish Marc Segarra, chef of the Abadía Retuerta restaurant.
There are also sessions on mathematical thinking (Marcus du Sautoy and J.M. Sanz-Serna), mythology and folklore (Namita Gokhale, Paulo Lemos Horta) or that contemporary classic called “Thinking Better”, for those who see mental shortcuts instead of traps. William Dalrymple and Namita Gokhale, directors of the festival, insist on that idea of a multilingual conversation that goes beyond the anecdotal. They call it “connectivities,” and although it sounds abstract, in the context of the festival it makes sense.
The event is supported by the Valladolid City Council, the Junta de Castilla y León, the University of Valladolid, IE University, Casa de la India, ICCR, Fever and a long etcetera that sounds like a diplomatic line-up. An interesting fact: this is the only international edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival to be held in a non-English speaking country.