In India’s northwestern state of Rajasthan, hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to Jaipur, a city with terra-cotta pink-colored architecture, for its Jaipur Literature Festival every winter. Avid readers listen attentively to sessions by award-winning Indian and international authors, and form long, winding lines to get signed copies of books. Vendors at a vibrant marketplace sell an assortment of handmade snacks, clothes and jewelry.

The festival, which launched in 2006 and has since spread outside of India, is one of the largest literary shows in the world — and Seattleites can experience “that same Jaipur literary magic” here downtown, said Sonora Jha, an author and Seattle University professor who will speak about her novel “Intemperance” at the third edition of JLF Seattle. This local microcosm of the Jaipur Literature Festival will run Sept. 17-20 between Town Hall Seattle, the Seattle Public Library’s Central Library and Viya Contemporary, a South Asian art gallery in Bellevue.

“A lot of people who are from India have heard of the festival and have been very excited to see it happening here as well,” said Jha, whose book follows a twice-divorced professor who plans to celebrate her 55th birthday with a swayamvar, an ancient Indian tradition where suitors compete for a woman’s hand in marriage. “These are intellectual professionals from India and generally from South Asia, so we’re very engaged and excited about the literary figures coming from all over the country, all over the world.”

As a festival of books and ideas, JLF Seattle covers a wide range of themes, such as politics, science, immigration, race and history, said Alka Kurian, the executive director at JLF Seattle. According to the organization, more than 9,000 people set foot in its venues during last year’s event — its second year.

“It creates a very intellectually stimulating space for a conversation,” Kurian said.

This year’s iteration tallies 26 speakers — most of whom are of Indian and South Asian descent — from the global and local arts scenes, including Shakhar Kapur, a filmmaker whose work straddles Bollywood and Hollywood; “Life of Pi” author Yann Martel; and Tacoma-based creative nonfiction writer Tamiko Nimura. Sessions will cover topics from the Iranian Revolution to the American dream and the rise of artificial intelligence, according to the festival program. The Sept. 18 program at the Central Library is free and open to the public, while tickets to the Town Hall Seattle sessions on Sept. 19 and 20 are priced from $45 to $80. 

In the Sept. 19 panel “The Memory Keepers,” Nimura and local author Kristen Millares Young will talk about family histories, womanhood and grief with Kurian, Nimura said. Her memoir “A Place for What We Lose” reflects on her late father’s life at Tule Lake, Calif., where he and other Japanese American family members were incarcerated during World War II. Millares Young explores her matrilineage from Cuba to Spain in her forthcoming memoir, “Desire Lines,” investigating Cybele, the Phrygian goddess of motherhood.

By bringing the Jaipur Literature Festival to Seattle, visitors can think more expansively about their place in the international literary scene, Millares Young said.

“It is becoming part of the literary infrastructure that not only upholds the South Asian literary communities here in Seattle, but also brings us into conversation with other parts of the world, whose diaspora is already here and have already brought their culture and insights,” Millares Young said.

In addition to hosting author talks, JLF Seattle features various art forms: A live performance of Indian classical music will begin the morning of Sept. 20, and an artist will create artwork in real time while sessions in Town Hall are ongoing, Kurian said. And like the original Jaipur Literature Festival, JLF Seattle also organizes a colorful marketplace — this one in Town Hall, offering coffee and tea, books, clothes, candles and knickknacks, Kurian said. Food trucks will also be stationed outside the venue.

“We provide this holistic experience, so it really truly is a festival,” Kurian said.

When Kurian listens in on sessions in Town Hall, she feels the gap close between authors and their audience.

“You can’t travel to different parts of the world and get an appointment with an author. It’s impossible,” Kurian said. “So we create that opportunity. It’s alive. It’s a living, breathing, laughing, crying audience that engages with the conversation.”