Spreading the word: A look at some important literature festivals across India

The Jaipur Literature Festival fever has just subsided as the festival was held in a hybrid avatar for the first time this year. Literature festivals are important destinations where conversations are stirred and prominent works of literature discussed. We look at some important literature festivals across India.

Valley of Words, Dehradun
The non-profit volunteer-driven initiative of The Valley of Words Foundation Trust is a three-day literature and arts festival in Dehradun. The festival sees the participation of writers, critics and audiences from the world of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. The festival has had four successful runs and the fifth edition is due this year. In 2021, the festival went virtual.

Goa Arts & Literary Festival
GALF began in 2010 and is a volunteer-driven and non-profit initiative. The idea of the festival was inspired by late Goan poet Eunice de Souza’s ideology that there are ‘different ways of belonging’. GALF has brought forward writers and artists from the margins. The festival is held at The International Centre Goa (ICG) usually in December.

Jashn-e-Rekhta
Jashn-e-Rekhta is the world’s largest Urdu language literary festival. The three-day festival is held in Delhi every year and celebrates Urdu poetry, Urdu literature, Qawwali and Islamic calligraphy. The festival stirs conversation around films and literature through debates and panel discussions. The festival was founded by Sanjiv Saraf, a businessman and cultural entrepreneur, to promote Urdu literature. It was first started in 2015 by the Rekhta Foundation. Prominent names like Rekha Bhardwaj, Muzaffar Ali, Javed Akhtar, Nandita Das and Shabana Azmi have been in attendance at the festival.

Kumaon Literary Festival
Kumaon Literary Festival (KLF) is an initiative of NHP Centre, a not-for-profit organisation. The five-day festival was founded by social commentator, innovator, thought leader and lawyer Sumant Batra. KLF comprises initiatives, projects and activities that go on beyond the festival. It aims to identify new talent, open avenues for authors and bring forth translations for a larger audience. The not-for-profit and independent litfest, the first to be held in a mountain village in Uttarakhand, is one-of-a-kind retreat and ‘travelling’ litfest in the country.

Orange City Literature Festival, Nagpur
OCLF first began in December, 2019. The first edition had sessions spread across two days in five sessions. The 2022 edition of the festival is scheduled to happen in November. Apart from poets, writers, journalists and actors, various workshops on literature are a part of the festival. Stalls are also provided to NGOs free of cost at the festival.

Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival
AKLF is India’s first litfest created by a bookstore and is Kolkata’s first literature festival. It reflects Kolkata’s vibrancy, heritage and its love for literature. It celebrates music, films, art and creativity. AKLF 2022 was held in January and all events were free and open to all. Eminent authors like Devdutt Pattanaik and Dr Shashi Tharoor, and personalities like Vir Sanghvi, Vani Tripathi, Sandip Roy and Kabir Bedi were a part of the 2022 edition of the festival.

Jaipur Literature Festival
The recently concluded Jaipur Literature Festival is one of the biggest literary festivals in the world. After having a virtual run in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic, the festival returned on ground in a hybrid avatar in 2022 between March 5 and March 15. For the first time, the festival was held at Hotel Clarks, Amer. Since its inception in 2006, it has been held in The Diggi Palace Hotel. Author Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple are the festival directors while the festival is an initiative of the Jaipur Virasat Foundation. The festival is produced by Teamwork Arts. Some of the notable speakers at the festival this year included Abhijit Banerjee, Elif Shafak, Diya Kumari and more.

Bangalore Literature Festival
Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF) started in 2012 as a flagship annual literary festival for provoking discussions around literature and life. It was the brainchild of historian and author Vikram Sampath, author Shinie Antony and venture capital investor Srikrishna Ramamoorthy. BLF 2021 was held in December at Bangalore International Centre.

Kalinga Literary Festival
Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) is an annual literature festival held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The festival’s founder director is writer-journalist Rashmi Ranjan Parida. Three literary awards that are conferred during the festival include Kalinga Literary Award, Kalinga International Literary Award and Kalinga Karubaki Award. It first began in 2014 to promote Odia literature, language and culture.