Podcasts about jaipur literary festival

Sanjoy K. Roy, the visionary behind the Jaipur Literature Festival in India, on growing the largest literary festival in the world, expanding it to the US, UK and beyond and how storytelling and creativity can shape culture and change cities. *LINKS AND RESOURCESJaipur Literature FestivalSanjoy: InstagramTeamwork Arts*ABOUT SANJOY ROYSanjoy is the Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, the company behind the Jaipur Literature Festival, which has grown from a single room with 230 attendees to a global event attracting over 400,000 visitors. His work focuses on using arts, culture, and storytelling as platforms to drive social change and inspire dialogue, and he has curated over 33 festivals in over 42 cities worldwide. For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.For free writing sessions, join free Writers' Hours: writershour.com.*FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS' SALONTwitter: twitter.com/​​WritersSalonInstagram: instagram.com/londonwriterssalonFacebook: facebook.com/LondonWritersSalonIf you're enjoying this show, please rate and review this show!

22. We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Jonathan Kennedy interview stars of Indian & Irish literature and film making at the 2024 Jaipur Literature Festival at the British Library in London. (It's possible that Paul repeatedly referred to it as the Jaipur Literary Festival, but let's not quibble.) We hear from the man who is at every Indian gathering worth attending, JLF organiser Sanjoy Roy; Nazia Erum author of Mothering A Muslim; Dr Sunny Singh and Yasser Usman on the captivating appeal of Bollywood & Hindi films; diplomat Vikas Swarup, author of Q & A - which became the movie Slumdog Millionaire - and other novels; Irish author Liz Nugent who's novel Strange Sally Diamond has been topping book charts; & Indian film director Shekhar Kapoor whose movies include Elizabeth, Bandit Queen & the iconic Mr India. Brace yourself for startling revelations. WHO IS JONATHAN KENNEDY? WHY IS HE HERE? AND WHERE IS STEVYN COLGAN? Jonathan was Director of Arts in India for 5 years for the British Council. He's been everywhere in India and knows everyone there involved in culture. He was also for 12 years the Executive Director of Tara Arts, looking at the world through a South Asian lens. Jonathan is doing some India & South Asian episodes of We'd Like A Word with us. We'll drop them in every now & then. Normal service will be resumed with Steve & Paul shortly. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is writing a new cosy mystery series set in contemporary Delhi - more on that anon. And if you're still stuck for something to read now, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

SPEAKER:Prof. Stephen Dale is an Emeritus Professor of South Asian and Islamic History at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio USA. He has written books on Kerala (Islamic Society on the South Asian Frontier, The Mappilas of Malabar, 1498-1922 , Babur (The Garden of the Eight Paradises, Babur and the Culture of Empire in Centra Asia, Afghanistan and India, 1483-1530, ,The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals, The Orange Trees of Marrakesh, Ibn Khaldun and the Science of Man Babur, Timurid Prince and Mughal Emperor. He first came to India on a Fulbright Teaching grant in 1963, when he met Jawaharlal Nehru along with several other Fulbright grantees. Later he visited India many times, living in Kozhikode, Kerala and Chennai, and traveling in different parts of the country.  He was most recently in India in 2020,  with his wife, when he spoke on Babur at the Jaipur Literary Festival.EXPLORE MORE:Find out about upcoming sessions and learn how you can join them live and become a part of the conversation - https://www.argumentativeindians.comDISCLAIMER:We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians do not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in any way responsible for the stance, words, and comments of our guests.Explore More at - www.argumentativeindians.comDISCLAIMER:We invite thought leaders from across the ideological spectrum. The guests in our sessions express their independent views and opinions. Argumentative Indians does not profess to subscribe, agree or endorse the same or be in anyway responsible for the stance, words and comments of our guests.

Writing history & India (part 1): Shashi Tharoor & William Dalrymple tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan about how they write history, how they got started, why history is important, how history is used as a weapon in today's culture wars, & who has the right to write a country's history. Shashi tells us about his least favourite historian. And William dodges some extreme criticism of the bullet-from-a-gun variety & has a happy reunion with a lost manuscript. We also investigate the rumours that the character of Indiana Jones was based on William. Shashi Tharoor is former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, former Indian Government minister, Member of the Indian Parliament, prolific author & historian. His many books include Riot, India: From Midnight to the Millennium, Nehru: The Invention of India, & An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India also published under the title Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. William Dalrymple is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the Jaipur Literary Festival, a broadcaster, curator and the author of many books, including In Xanadu, City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, White Mughals, The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty Delhi 1857, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond (with Anita Anand) & The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company. Lots of other authors, people & topics get a mention too - JP Martin's Uncle books, Barabar Tuchmann's The March of Folly: Troy to Vietnam, Anita Anand, Stephen Fry, Gabriel Byrne, Samson Kambalu and the 4th Plinth, Americanisms, Captain WE Johns & Biggles, Operations Bellows, Enid Blyton, The Six Solvers, contested histories, the evolution of language, bloodthirsty St Agnes, Cornish & Irish giants, The Goodies, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Narendra Modi, Neil Jordan's Lord Edward and Citizen Small, Victoria and Abdul, & Miki Berenyi (formerly of Lush, & who has an excellent memoir just out fingers crossed: how music saved me from success). We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Writing history & India (part 3): Shashi Tharoor & William Dalrymple tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan about how they write history, how they got started, why history is important, how history is used as a weapon in today's culture wars, & who has the right to write a country's history. Shashi tells us about his least favourite historian. And William dodges some extreme criticism of the bullet-from-a-gun variety & has a happy reunion with a lost manuscript. We also investigate the rumours that the character of Indiana Jones was based on William. Shashi Tharoor is former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, former Indian Government minister, Member of the Indian Parliament, prolific author & historian. His many books include Riot, India: From Midnight to the Millennium, Nehru: The Invention of India, & An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India also published under the title Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. William Dalrymple is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the Jaipur Literary Festival, a broadcaster, curator and the author of many books, including In Xanadu, City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, White Mughals, The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty Delhi 1857, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond (with Anita Anand) & The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company. Lots of other authors, people & topics get a mention too - JP Martin's Uncle books, Barabar Tuchmann's The March of Folly: Troy to Vietnam, Anita Anand, Stephen Fry, Gabriel Byrne, Samson Kambalu and the 4th Plinth, Americanisms, Captain WE Johns & Biggles, Operations Bellows, Enid Blyton, The Six Solvers, contested histories, the evolution of language, bloodthirsty St Agnes, Cornish & Irish giants, The Goodies, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Narendra Modi, Neil Jordan's Lord Edward and Citizen Small, Victoria and Abdul, & Miki Berenyi (formerly of Lush, & who has an excellent memoir just out fingers crossed: how music saved me from success). We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Writing history & India (part 2): Shashi Tharoor & William Dalrymple tell We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan about how they write history, how they got started, why history is important, how history is used as a weapon in today's culture wars, & who has the right to write a country's history. Shashi tells us about his least favourite historian. And William dodges some extreme criticism of the bullet-from-a-gun variety & has a happy reunion with a lost manuscript. We also investigate the rumours that the character of Indiana Jones was based on William. Shashi Tharoor is former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, former Indian Government minister, Member of the Indian Parliament, prolific author & historian. His many books include Riot, India: From Midnight to the Millennium, Nehru: The Invention of India, & An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India also published under the title Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India. William Dalrymple is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the Jaipur Literary Festival, a broadcaster, curator and the author of many books, including In Xanadu, City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, White Mughals, The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty Delhi 1857, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond (with Anita Anand) & The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company. Lots of other authors, people & topics get a mention too - JP Martin's Uncle books, Barabar Tuchmann's The March of Folly: Troy to Vietnam, Anita Anand, Stephen Fry, Gabriel Byrne, Samson Kambalu and the 4th Plinth, Americanisms, Captain WE Johns & Biggles, Operations Bellows, Enid Blyton, The Six Solvers, contested histories, the evolution of language, bloodthirsty St Agnes, Cornish & Irish giants, The Goodies, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Narendra Modi, Neil Jordan's Lord Edward and Citizen Small, Victoria and Abdul, & Miki Berenyi (formerly of Lush, & who has an excellent memoir just out fingers crossed: how music saved me from success). We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul & Steve & our guests. We're also on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we are embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. And if you're still stuck for something to read, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the new comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

Creating Dance That Resonates ADITI MANGALDAS Dance Company Bio Aditi Mangaldas is a leading dancer and choreographer in the classical Indian dance form of Kathak. With extensive training under the leading gurus of Kathak, Shrimati Kumudini Lakhia and Pandit Birju Maharaj, Aditi is today recognised for her artistry, technique, eloquence and characteristic energy that mark every performance. Besides dancing and choreographing classical productions, both solo and group, she has broken new ground by using her knowledge and experience of Kathak as a springboard to evolve a contemporary dance vocabulary, infused with the spirit of the classical. Considered a maverick in India, she has consistently broken ground, unafraid to confront social and present-day concerns. She heads the Aditi Mangaldas Dance Company – The Drishtikon Dance Foundation. Show Highlights (0:02:23) A love story between a mature older woman and a younger man: Upcoming Duet with Akash Odedra (0:07:22) Lost In The Forest: expressing the anxiety and isolation felt during the pandemic (0:08:44) Working with Shubha Mudgal for the production (0:09:34) Using empty frames to show movement in time (0:13:32) Performing for the first time in India post Pandemic: 2022 Jaipur Literary Festival (0:15:09) Uncharted: What/Who are we looking for? (0:17:01) Building and nurturing relationships (0:19:26) Getting pregnant with your work (0:21:24) Keeping things open to interpretation based on people's own life experiences (0:22:25) Creating art that resonates with you for years (0:24:32) The elements of storytelling (0:25:34) How far in history do you go back to call something traditional (0:28:32) The importance of not getting complacent (0:29:48) The process of getting to dance on a world stage (0:31:08) Playing the dual roles of a dancer and choreographer (0:32:50) The importance of working with a diverse set of dancers (0:34:11) Wearing multiple hats: dancer, choreographer, artistic director (0:36:21) Cross training: Kalari/Yoga/Contemporary Dance (0:37:43) The meaning of Kathak sensibilities (0:40:39) Giving a direction to your artistic endeavors (0:42:16) Collecting thoughts, ideas, images (0:44:38) Is time reversible: Timeless (0:47:41) Using Rhythm to portray time (0:51:55) How do you feel about being an inspiration (0:56:19) Declining the National SNA award for creative/experimental work (0:57:10) Portraying raw pain and anguish (0:58:59) Having a responsibility as a dancer (1:00:21) Double Standards

This week, on the "The Private Market Show," we have Mohit Satyanand. Mohit is Chairman and Founder at Teamworks which now produces several of India's most prestigious arts festivals, including the Jaipur Literary Festival, and also an active private market investor who is known for working with founders to scale businesses. In this episode, he shares his journey from starting Angel investment to being a prominent lead investor in the country. Further, he talks about what it takes to be a good lead investor and how he learns every day from founders coming from smaller towns in India. You surely don't want to miss this masterclass on Angel Investing and Life from Mohit! Tune in to know more.

"We were exactly the class which filled the Imperial hierarchy...sufficiently well connected to get a place with the East India Company or in the Raj Civil Service, but desperate enough economically to need to send the younger sons out... It was a guy called Stair Dalrymple who ended up in the Black Hole of Calcutta in 1756. And so, generations have been there one after another and like almost all the Brits, probably all the Brits who I'd ever met, it was assumed that colonisation was an act of bringing civilisation to poor benighted natives." William Dalrymple is a Scottish historian and writer, art historian and curator, as well as a broadcaster and critic. His books have won numerous awards including the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize, the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the Kapuściński Award and the Wolfson History Prize. He is also one of the co-founders and co-directors of the annual Jaipur Literary Festival.

Tracy Nnanwubar is the CEO, THE ONLINE LADYLIMITED. She was the youngest editor in Nigeria at age 18, Tracy has attended the Ife Festival of Poetry, National Association of Television Programming Executives conference in Florida, Jaipur Literary Festival in India, and LEAP Africa & AIESEC Leadership Conferences. She was invited to the International Library of Poets' Convention in Washington D.C. and has been featured on Unilag FM, Eko FM, MBI Radio, Trybze Magazine, Citi FM Ghana, Goge AfricaTV Show, Punch Newspaper, Business Day Newspaper, Next234 Newspaper, Baby-Bump-And-After Magazine, and The Nairobi Star. She is a Literary Fellow of the Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She was awarded a Literary Residency at the Village Institute in India and granted a Colonel Farleigh S. Dickinson International Scholarship for an MFA in Creative Writing. At age 19, the Commonwealth of Nations sponsored the “This is Lagos” documentary about her life for British and Nigerian TV. Tracy has been a part of the UK Cross Borders Writing Scheme; a Landmark Forum Education Initiative to encourage young children between the ages of 8 and 10 to develop their writing skills; and The Pelican Post -UK Books Donation Project in Lagos. Her writing has also been workshopped into scripts for “Hear Word! Naija Woman Talk True” staged in Edinburgh The Lyceum Theatre, Harvard University, and New York's Broadway.

Tracy Nnanwubar is the CEO, THE ONLINE LADYLIMITED. She was the youngest editor in Nigeria at age 18, Tracy has attended the Ife Festival of Poetry, National Association of Television Programming Executives conference in Florida, Jaipur Literary Festival in India, and LEAP Africa & AIESEC Leadership Conferences. She was invited to the International Library of Poets' Convention in Washington D.C. and has been featured on Unilag FM, Eko FM, MBI Radio, Trybze Magazine, Citi FM Ghana, Goge AfricaTV Show, Punch Newspaper, Business Day Newspaper, Next234 Newspaper, Baby-Bump-And-After Magazine, and The Nairobi Star. She is a Literary Fellow of the Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She was awarded a Literary Residency at the Village Institute in India and granted a Colonel Farleigh S. Dickinson International Scholarship for an MFA in Creative Writing. At age 19, the Commonwealth of Nations sponsored the “This is Lagos” documentary about her life for British and Nigerian TV. Tracy has been a part of the UK Cross Borders Writing Scheme; a Landmark Forum Education Initiative to encourage young children between the ages of 8 and 10 to develop their writing skills; and The Pelican Post -UK Books Donation Project in Lagos. Her writing has also been workshopped into scripts for “Hear Word! Naija Woman Talk True” staged in Edinburgh The Lyceum Theatre, Harvard University, and New York's Broadway.

Tracy Nnanwubar is the CEO, THE ONLINE LADYLIMITED. She was the youngest editor in Nigeria at age 18, Tracy has attended the Ife Festival of Poetry, National Association of Television Programming Executives conference in Florida, Jaipur Literary Festival in India, and LEAP Africa & AIESEC Leadership Conferences. She was invited to the International Library of Poets' Convention in Washington D.C. and has been featured on Unilag FM, Eko FM, MBI Radio, Trybze Magazine, Citi FM Ghana, Goge AfricaTV Show, Punch Newspaper, Business Day Newspaper, Next234 Newspaper, Baby-Bump-And-After Magazine, and The Nairobi Star. She is a Literary Fellow of the Farafina Trust Creative Writing Workshop by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She was awarded a Literary Residency at the Village Institute in India and granted a Colonel Farleigh S. Dickinson International Scholarship for an MFA in Creative Writing. At age 19, the Commonwealth of Nations sponsored the “This is Lagos” documentary about her life for British and Nigerian TV. Tracy has been a part of the UK Cross Borders Writing Scheme; a Landmark Forum Education Initiative to encourage young children between the ages of 8 and 10 to develop their writing skills; and The Pelican Post -UK Books Donation Project in Lagos. Her writing has also been workshopped into scripts for “Hear Word! Naija Woman Talk True” staged in Edinburgh The Lyceum Theatre, Harvard University, and New York's Broadway.

In this week's episode of The Adelaide Show, Steve creates a taste of OzAsia Adelaide through two intriguing elements of the festive, on from October 17 to November 3, 2019. The first is the production, Light, the play that explores our darkness through a revisionist history of the theft of Penang, the birth of Adelaide, and the rise of the British Empire. And the Jaipur Literary Festival's manifestation as JLF Adelaide. This free program, guided by advisor Laura Kroetsch, former director of Adelaide Writers Week, introduces you to some of the Asian region's most celebrated writers, thinkers and performers. This week, the SA Drink Of The Week is a Blanc de Blancs from Grey-Smith Wines. And in the Musical Pilgrimage, we hear a new love song by local singer/songwriter, Steve Charles. And please consider becoming part of our podcast by joining our Inner Circle. It's an email list. Join it and you might get an email on a Sunday or Monday seeking question ideas, guest ideas and requests for other bits of feedback about YOUR podcast, The Adelaide Show. Email us directly and we'll add you to the list: podcast@theadelaideshow.com.au If you enjoy the show, please leave us a 5-star review in iTunes or other podcast sites, or buy some great merch from our Red Bubble store - The Adelaide Show Shop. We'd greatly appreciate it. Support the show: https://theadelaideshow.com.au/listen-or-download-the-podcast/adelaide-in-crowd/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plastic Week! concludes with insight from the Boulder-based Inland Ocean Coalition on how landlocked states like Colorado contribute to pollution in the oceans. Plus, transformative theater for inmates, by inmates. Then a new season at the Fox in Aurora tackles social issues, as does the Jaipur Literary Festival in Boulder.

Plastic Week! concludes with insight from the Boulder-based Inland Ocean Coalition on how landlocked states like Colorado contribute to pollution in the oceans. Plus, transformative theater for inmates, by inmates. Then a new season at the Fox in Aurora tackles social issues, as does the Jaipur Literary Festival in Boulder.

Anna and Amanda discuss recent book to screen adaptations and the Jaipur Literary Festival in Adelaide. Our book of the week is There There by Tommy Orange.  A New York Times best-seller, described as 'the year's most galvanising debut novel' (Entertainment Weekly) and 'a thunderclap' (Marlon James), it was long-listed for the National Book Awards.  Next week, Anna and Annie will be reading Disoriental by Négar Djavadi. Follow us! Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @amandalhayes99 Twitter: @abailliekaras Credits: Artwork: Sascha Wilcosz  

Kovid is the creator of Calibre, an ebook management and conversion program. He has a Ph.D from California Institute of Technology and has worked on quantum computing. He has many and varied interests. He is a book lover and reads close to 100 books an year. In addition, he has written poems and essays . Kovid was one of the panelists in the Jaipur Literary Festival -2016 . He has 2 daughters and his wife is an author of children's books.    

Today's subject is the low-caste weaver and poet who dared to upturn the social orthodoxies of 15th century India - and who still challenges us today. Sunil explores the life and poetic legacy of Kabir - a dissenter, a provoker and an abrasive debunker of humbug. There are plenty of legends around the poet - for example that, after his death, his body transfigured into flowers so that he could be neither cremated by his Hindu followers s nor buried by Muslim devotees - but we actually know very little about Kabir's life. One of the few certain facts is that he lived in India's most sacred city, Varanasi. Sunil Khilnani finds himself in the poor neighbourhood of Bajardhia where low-caste Muslims still work today as weavers. Sitting in cramped rooms among men with little work, Sunil reflects on the man who described himself as 'a patient weaver's son' but who is actually one of the most impatient, acerbic, fed-up voices in the Indian cultural canon. Kabir has become venerated across northern India as a saint, almost a god. Yet Sunil finds Kabir's name being invoked in secular circles too, for example the annual Jaipur Literary Festival, a 21st century haven for independent thinking. Here he meets the eminent poet Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, translator of Kabir's poems into modern idiom and an advocate for the poetic dissenter who wasn't afraid to offend the powerful. Producer: Jeremy Grange Original music composed by Talvin Singh.

A co-founder and co-director of the annual Jaipur Literary Festival in India, William Dalrymple has an eye for history and an ability to make it come alive. The British historian, writer and curator’s latest book, The Return of a King, The Battle for Afghanistan (2012) is testament to his talent for artfully recounting tales from humanity’s collective past with Barnaby Rogerson of The Independent newspaper describing the book thus: “William Dalrymple is a master storyteller, who breathes such passion, vivacity and animation into the historical characters of the First Anglo-Afghan war of 1839-42 that at the end of this 567-page book you feel you have marched, fought, dined and plotted with them all …” In our interview with Dalrymple we asked him about where his love of history originated, how he makes the dry old pages of history spring to life, and his advice for aspiring writers. Interview by Danielle Williams, course manager of Australian Writers' Centre, at the 2013 Sydney Writers Festival. www.WritersCentre.com.au