JAIPUR: Over 350 writers, thinkers, politicians, journalists and cultural icons from over 35 nationalities are expected to converge in the city between January 25-29 for the Jaipur Literature Festival.

On Wednesday, organizers of the festival released a fresh list of participants, including novelist Adam Nicolson, Virginia Wolfe expert Alexandra Harris, journalist Asne Seierstad, who lived with an Afghan family and will recount her experiences of being in that troubled nation, and Dominic Dromgoole, former artistic director of the Globe Theatre, who will discuss Shakespeare’s Universality.

Harvard professor Homi Bhabha will share insights on post-colonial writing. Forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs and surgeon Ma Thida, who has chronicled Myanmar, will address audiences. Environmentalist Pradip Kishen will throw light on the topography of the Aravalis.

Musical maestro Zakir Hussain and biographer of the Beatles, Rolling Stones and John Elton Philip Norman will also be at the JLF. Celebrated naturalist Redmond O’Hanlon, who travelled to Congo in search of a dinosaur rumoured to have survived in a prehistoric lake, will also hold a session.

Novelist Jeet Thayil will be there to discuss his latest book, The Book of Chocolate Saints – his dominant themes are love, hate and savagery. P Sainath will be there to dwell on the crisis in agriculture in India.

Registration for the festival is now open, online. Those failing to register online may have to pay a fee for entry.