Jaipur Literature Festival in the Pink City marked the beginning of a series of literature festivals celebrating the habit of reading (Photo: Jaipur Literature Festival)
Jaipur Literature Festival, which kicks off a series of literary fests around the country has begun in the Pink City. The festival commenced on Thursday, welcoming visitors in traditional Rajasthani style with a high-energy Carnatic music performance by vocalists Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath and Rithvik Raja.
Book fans quickly immersed themselves in the sea of books at various stalls, which showcased recent releases along with works by participating authors. Opening the festival, Producer Sanjoy K Roy outlined plans to expand the event to Ireland. Festival co-directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple reflected on the festival’s early days, recalling editions that drew barely 25 visitors and its evolution into a global cultural phenomenon today. As the doors opened to debates and counter-opinions, the festival unfolded as a vibrant celebration of Rajasthan’s culture, heritage and literary diversity.
The opening session featured International Booker prize winner Banu Mushtaq in conversation with Moutushi Mukherjee. Poet and song writer Javed Akhtar drew the attention of the audience with his session Points of View where in conversation with Warisha Farsat he shared the changes in the post-independent cultures, middle class and the role of the writers and poets in the society.
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Literature festivals in the country have been a popular cultural force for years. Not only do they help in increasing tourism, but they also keep instilling the habit of reading among both younger and older generations.
Besides the Jaipur Literature Festival, described as the greatest literature show on Earth, several other literature festivals will be held in the country, reflecting the country’s ever-evolving reading public. To broaden their appeal, these festivals have expanded to digital sessions, question and answer sessions and live-streamed panels to connect to readers virtually.
Jaipur Literature Festival
The 19th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival starting today, is the world’s largest free literature festival, featuring over 300 sessions with over 500 speakers from about 25 countries.
The 19th edition of the five-day event includes several sessions from literature to pressing issues of politics, climate, science and technology.
Jaipur Literature Festival is the world’s largest free literature festival
Often hailed as the greatest literary show on Earth, it was established in 2006 by writers Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple. Today, the festival has grown to a huge literary phenomenon and, alongside famous writers, it also brings attention to lesser-known and equally bright Indian writers, other than those writing English.
The initial festival included 18 writers, including Hari Kunzru, William Dalrymple, Shobha De and Namita Gokhale and only drew about 100 attendees. Over time, the festival has grown to attract over 25,000 visitors.
Lit for Life
The Lit for Life is an annual literary festival organised by The Hindu, an Indian daily, in Chennai. The festival was inaugurated in 2010. A year later, the festival became an independent one-day event and, over the years, developed into a two-day event.
The 14th edition of the event is scheduled to take place on January 17 and 18 at the Lady Andal School premises. Known over the years for its sharp curation and contemporary relevance, the festival today is known to explore how literature shapes ideas, culture, creativity, and everyday conversation far beyond the written word.
The Lit For Life festival was inaugurated in 2010 and is organised by The Hindu newspaper
This year’s edition will bring together over 100 distinguished voices from not just the country but also globally, spanning writers, thinkers, journalists, economists, historians and cultural commentators.
2026’s line-up features several acclaimed names such as Perumal Murugan, Banu Mushtaq, Shobhaa De, Kiran Desai, and Satoshi Yagisawa, among others. Interestingly, the festival has also engaged audiences through the Lit for Life Dialogues and Lit for Life Unplugged held in November and December, 2025.
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International Kolkata Book Fair
The International Kolkata Book Fair slated from January 22 to February 3, will feature Latin American country, Argentina, as the theme country, marking it’s debut in the role to celebrate literary connections with West Bengal.
Known to be the biggest festival in the state after Durga Puja and also Asia’s largest book fair, the 50th edition of the festival will witness the participation of several new publishers. Interestingly, the book fair is primarily for the general public rather than wholesale distributors.
Kolkata Book Fair is known to be the biggest festival in the state after Durga Puja
Inspired by the Frankfurt Book Fair, the International Kolkata Book Fair is now the oldest annual book fair of India. Started in 1976 on a small scale by the Kolkata Publishers and Booksellers Guild, the festival was initially held just for a week but due to high demand, it was extended.
Kerala Literature Festival
Founded in 2016 by the DC Kizhakemuri Foundation (DCKF), the Kerala Literature Festival is an annual festival organised on the beaches of Kozhikode, also called India’s first city of Literature. The 9th edition of the festival is to be held from January 22 to 25.
The four-day festival this year will feature over 400 speakers and 250 sessions across seven parallel tracks with 10 sessions per track each day, and 15 participating countries.
Kerala Literature Festival is known to be one of the most anticipated cultural gatherings in the country
The festival has today become one of India’s most anticipated cultural gatherings where literature, ideas, art, music, cinema and performance come together in an inclusive space.
Notable speakers like Abdulrazak Gurnah, Olga Tokarczuk, Abhijit Banerjee, business leader Indra Nooyi and artist and illustrator Cheyenne Olivier are expected this year.
Hyderabad Literature Festival
A festival initiated by Muse India, a literary e-journal, the Hyderabad Literature Festival is a three-day festival to be organised in Hyderabad from January 24 to 26.
Hyderabad Literature Festival is a celebration of literature and conversations across borders and generations
Started in 2010, the 16th successive edition of the festival is a celebration of literature, culture, art and conversations that cross borders and generations.
A multi-genre, multidisciplinary and multilingual event, HLF this year will feature nearly 300 authors, artists, academics, media professionals, independent scholars, public intellectuals and science communicators from India and abroad.
The festival will focus on themes like climate change, with Kashmiri as the Indian language in focus and feature plenary speakers including Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Kailash Satyarthi.