List of literary festivals

A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of writers and readers, typically on an annual basis in a particular city. A literary festival usually features a variety of presentations and readings by authors, as well as other events, delivered over a period of several days, with the primary objectives of promoting the authors' books and fostering a love of literature and writing.

Writers' conferences are sometimes designed to provide an intellectual and academic focus for groups of writers without the involvement of the general public.

There are many literary festivals held around the world. Notable literary festivals include:

Africa

See also: Category:Literary festivals in Africa

Nigeria

• Port Harcourt Book Festival, October ^[1]
• Chinua Achebe Literary Festival, November

Asia

See also: Category:Literary festivals in Asia

Asia-Pacific

Australia

• Adelaide Writers' Week, March
• Newcastle, New South Wales National Young Writers' Festival, September/October
• Perth Writers' Festival, February/March
• Sydney Writers' Festival, May

Bangladesh

• Hay Festival Dhaka, November

China

• Shanghai International Literary Festival

Hong Kong

• Hong Kong International Literary Festival, March

India

See also: List of literary festivals in India

• Chandigarh Literati, November
• Dehradun Literature Festival, February
• Delhi Poetry Festival, January
• Gateway Litfest, February/March
• Guntur International Poetry Festival (GIPF), July
• Jaipur Literary Festival, January
• Jashn-e-Rekhta, Urdu literary festival held annually in New Delhi
• Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF), July
• Lit for Life, January/February
• Lucknow Literary Festival, February/March
• Ma Literature Festival, January/February
• Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters ^{[2] [3] [4]}
• Queer LitFest, Chennai (QLF), July/September

Indonesia

• Jakarta International Literary Festival (JILF), August
• Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF), held annually at Ubud, Bali

Malaysia

• George Town Literary Festival
• Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival, July

Nepal

• Nepal Literature Festival

Pakistan

• Islamabad Literature Festival, April
• Karachi Literature Festival, February
• Lahore Literary Festival, February
• Sindh Literature Festival, January/February/March

Singapore

• Singapore Writers Festival, October/November

Sri Lanka

• Galle Literary Festival, January

Middle East

Israel

• Hebrew Book Week
• The Jerusalem International Writers Festival

United Arab Emirates

• Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, held annually in Dubai

Europe

See also: Category:Literary festivals in Europe

Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Sarajevo Poetry Days, Sarajevo

Czech Republic

• Authors' Reading Month, July (held in Brno, Wroclaw, Kosice, Lviv, Ostrava)
• Prague Writers Festival, June

Denmark

• Louisiana Literature, August

England

• Black British Book Festival, October ^[5]
• Bradford Literature Festival, June/July
• Bridport Literary Festival, November
• Cheltenham Literature Festival, October
• Chester Literature Festival, October
• The Children's Bookshow, autumn
• Creative Folkestone Book Festival, November
• Harrogate International Festivals Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, July
• Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival, April
• Jewish Book Week, February/March
• Liverpool Literary Festival, October
• Manchester Literature Festival
• The North London Literary Festival, March/April
• Oxford Literary Festival, Spring
• Peak Literary Festival, October/November or May/June

Finland

• Lahti International Writers' Reunion LIWRE, June

France

• FestivalandCo, held in Paris at the Shakespeare and Company bookstore
• Rencontres aubrac, Aveyron

Germany

• Berlin International Literature Festival, September

Ireland

• Cúirt International Festival of Literature, Galway, April

Italy

• Festivaletteratura, held in Mantua, at the beginning of September

Norway

• Norwegian Festival of Literature, Lillehammer, is the largest literature festival in the Scandinavian countries since 1996

Poland

• Conrad Festival, Kraków, October. The largest literary festival in Central Europe.

Scotland

• Edinburgh International Book Festival, August, coinciding with the annual Edinburgh Festival ^[6]
• Wigtown Book Festival ^{[7] [8]}

Sweden

• Göteborg Book Fair, Gothenburg, Sept
• WALTIC, Stockholm
• The Stockholm Writers Festival (Entering it's ninth year)

Switzerland

• Openair Literatur Festival Zürich, Zürich, held annually since 2013

Turkey

• Istanbul Tanpınar Literature Festival, held in Istanbul, at the beginning of May

Wales

• The Hay Festival, May/June

North America

See also: Category:Literary festivals in North America

Canada

• Banff Mountain Book Festival, October/November
• Eden Mills Writers' Festival, Eden Mills/Guelph, Ontario
• Festival of Literary Diversity, Brampton, Ontario
• The Frye Festival, Moncton, New Brunswick, April
• Toronto International Festival of Authors, October/November
• Winnipeg International Writers Festival, September
• The Word on the Street, several cities
• Wordfest, Calgary, Alberta, October

Mexico

• Guadalajara International Book Fair, November/December

United States

• Boston Book Festival, October
• Brooklyn Book Festival, September
• Burlington Book Festival, September
• Children's Literature Festival at the University of Central Missouri, March
• The Curwood Festival, Owosso, Michigan, June
• Hollywood Book Festival, July
• Kentucky Women Writers Conference, Lexington, Kentucky, September
• Litquake, San Francisco, October
• Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Los Angeles, California, April
• Miami Book Fair International, Miami, Florida, November
• National Book Festival, September
• New Orleans Poetry Festival, New Orleans, April
• OC Book Fair, Tustin, California, November
• Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival, New Orleans, March
• Texas Book Festival, Austin, Texas, fall
• Tucson Festival of Books, Tucson, Arizona, March

Caribbean

Jamaica

• Calabash International Literary Festival, Treasure Beach, June

Trinidad and Tobago

• Bocas Lit Fest, April

South America

See also: Category:Literary festivals in South America

Argentina

• International Poetry Festival of Rosario, Rosario

Brazil

• Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty, Paraty

Colombia

• International Poetry Festival of Medellín, Medellín

Peru

• Trujillo Book Festival, Trujillo, March

References

1. "Port Harcourt Book Festival". Portharcourtbookfestival.com. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
2. "MBIFL". March 3, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
3. "MBIFL begins on Thursday". The Hindu . March 3, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
4. "Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL'25) begins on Thursday". English.Mathrubhumi. 2025-02-05. Retrieved 2025-03-03.
5. Creamer, Ella (20 October 2023). "'I thought it was me alone': how the Black British book festival has grown". The Guardian . Retrieved 25 April 2025.
6. "Home – Edinburgh International Book Festival". www.edbookfest.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
7. "How becoming Scotland's National Book Town transformed Wigtown's fortunes". ITV News. 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
8. "Alan Cumming among Wigtown Book Festival highlights". BBC News. 2024-08-06. Retrieved 2024-08-08.

Further reading

• Driscoll, Beth. "Sentiment analysis and the literary festival audience." Continuum 29.6 (2015): 861-873.
• Driscoll, Beth, and Claire Squires. "Serious fun: Gaming the book festival." Mémoires du livre/Studies in Book Culture 9.2 (2018).
• Johanson, Katya, and Robin Freeman. "The reader as audience: The appeal of the writers' festival to the contemporary audience." Continuum 26.2 (2012): 303-314.
• Ommundsen, Wenche. "Literary festivals and cultural consumption." Australian Literary Studies 24.1 (2009): 19.
• Robertson, Martin, and Ian Yeoman. "Signals and signposts of the future: Literary festival consumption in 2050." Tourism Recreation Research 39.3 (2014): 321-342.
• Murray, Simone. The adaptation industry: The cultural economy of contemporary literary adaptation. Routledge, 2012.
• Stewart, Cori. "The Rise and Rise of Writers' Festivals." A Companion to Creative Writing (2013): 263-277.
• Weber, Millicent. "Conceptualizing audience experience at the literary festival." Continuum 29.1 (2015): 84-96.
• Weber, Millicent. Literary Festivals and Contemporary Book Culture. 2018.

External links

• Media related to Literary festivals at Wikimedia Commons