A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, ...

s 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 The Writers' Buildings, often shortened to just Writers, is the official secretariat building of the state government of West Bengal in Kolkata, India. The 150-meter long building covers the entire northern stretch of the iconic Lal Dighi pon ...

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. A non-exhaustive list is set out below, including dates when a festival is usually held (where available).

List of literary festivals

Notable literary festivals include:

Africa

* Port Harcourt Book Festival, October 20–25

Asia

Asia-Pacific

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UWRF) is an annual 4-day literary festival held every October in Ubud on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Established in 2004, it is considered Southeast Asia’s biggest and most meaningful literary Festival. It ...

(UWRF), held annually at

Ubud Ubud is a town on the Indonesian island of Bali in Ubud District, located amongst rice paddies and steep ravines in the central foothills of the Gianyar regency. Promoted as an arts and culture centre, it has developed a large tourism industry ...

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...

in Indonesia (www.ubudwritersfestival.com) * Gateway Litfest, February/ March *

Delhi Poetry Festival Poets Corner Group is a poetry group in India. The group's main purpose is to make it easier for new and aspiring poets to be published. Since its advent, Poets Corner has published over 340 poets in 21 anthologies in both English and Hindi la ...

, January * Dehradun Literature Festival, February *

Jashn-e-Rekhta Jashn-e-Rekhta (, ) is the world's largest Urdu language literary festival. It is a three-day event held annually in New Delhi that celebrates the Urdu language. The festival showcases Urdu poetry, Urdu literature, Qawwali, Islamic calligraphy, ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

* Guntur International Poetry Festival (GIPF), held annually since 2008 in

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. ...

, India * Adelaide Writers' Week, held annually during the Adelaide Festival of Arts in March * Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, held annually in Dubai, United Arab Emirates * Galle Literary Festival, January * George Town Literary Festival * Hay Festival Dhaka, November * Hong Kong International Literary Festival, October/November * Islamabad Literature Festival, April * Jakarta International Literary Festival (JILF), August * Jaipur Literary Festival, January, also JLF Adelaide in September/October * Karachi Literature Festival, February *

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

International Literary Festival, July * Lahore Literary Festival, February * Lit for Life, Chennai, Delhi January/February * Lucknow Literary Festival, Lucknow, February/ March * Nepal Literature Festival *

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

National Young Writers' Festival, September/October * Perth Writers' Festival, February/March * Queer LitFest, Chennai (QLF), July/September * Shanghai International Literary Festival *

Singapore Writers Festival The Singapore Writers Festival is a literary event organised by the National Arts Council. Inaugurated in 1986, the festival serves a dual function of promoting new and emerging Singaporean and Asian writing to an international audience, as well ...

, October/November 1 * Sydney Writers' Festival, May * Williamstown Literary Festival April/May * Chandigarh Literati, November *

Kalinga Literary Festival The Kalinga Literary Festival (Odia: କଳିଙ୍ଗ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ମହୋତ୍ସବ), also known as KLF, is a literary festival which takes place annually in the Indian city Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Rashmi Ranjan Parida is the founder ...

(KLF), July

Middle East

* Israel's

Hebrew Book Week Hebrew Book Week ( he, שבוע הספר העברי) is an annual week-long event in Israel celebrating Hebrew literature. History Hebrew Book Week evolved from a one-day event on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv organized by Bracha Peli, found ...

* The Jerusalem International Writers Festival * Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

Europe

Authors' Reading Month Authors' Reading Month is the largest Central European literary festival running annually since 2000. The organiser is the Větrné mlýny Publishers, (Brno, CZ) and the festival takes place every July 1–31. Every day 2–3 readings take place p ...

, Brno, Wroclaw, Kosice, Lviv, Ostrava, in July * Berlin International Literature Festival, in September *

Bradford Literature Festival The Bradford Literature Festival (sometimes abbreviated to BLF) is a spoken and written word event that promotes literature and is held for ten days annually over June and July in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The first event was held in 201 ...

, now held around June/July * Cambridge Literary Festival, held bi-annually in April and November, with many events accessible online * Cheltenham Literature Festival, October 6–15 * Chester Literature Festival, October *

The Children's Bookshow The Children's Bookshow is an annual children's literature roadshow which visits theatres and schools across the United Kingdom in the autumn. Established in 2003, The Children's Bookshow is directed by Siân Williams, and includes theatre perfor ...

, autumn * Conrad Festival,

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, October. The largest literary festival in Central Europe. *

Creative Folkestone Creative Folkestone (formerly The Creative Foundation), is a UK charity dedicated to art and culture, based in Folkestone, Kent, UK. It is responsible for the Creative Folkestone Triennial, the Quarterhouse (a theatre and event space) and Folke ...

Book Festival, 4 - 13 June, 2021 (it is normally held in November and heralds the start of the festive season). * Cúirt International Festival of Literature,

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, April *

Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square in the centre of Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. Billed as ''The largest festival of its k ...

, August 13–29, coinciding with the annual

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh F ...

* FestivalandCo,

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

-themed literary festival held in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, France, at the Shakespeare and Company bookstore * Festivaletteratura, held in

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

, Italy, at the beginning of September * Göteborg Book Fair,

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden, Sept *

Harrogate International Festivals Harrogate International Festivals (HIF) is a registered charity and one of the UK's longest running arts festivals, having been established in 1966. Based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Festivals include the Harrogate Music Festival, Theakston O ...

Theaksons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, home to the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, world's largest crime fiction Festival, in July * Harrogate Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival, in July

* Harrogate History Festival, chaired in 2015 by

Manda Scott Manda Scott (born 1962) is a former Scottish veterinary surgeon who is now a novelist, blogger, columnist and occasional broadcaster. Born and educated in Glasgow, Scotland, she trained at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicin ...

, in October

* Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival, late April * The

Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival ( cy, Gŵyl Y Gelli), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, ...

, May 27 – June 5 * The North London Literary Festival, held late March or early April * Istanbul Tanpınar Literature Festival, held in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, Turkey, at the beginning of May *

Jewish Book Week Jewish Book Week is a literary festival in London, held annually in February and March, that explores Jewish literature, ideas and culture. The festival was founded in 1952 and since 2012 it has been presented at Kings Place. It is organised by t ...

, London, late February and early March *

Louisiana Literature The literature of Louisiana, United States, includes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Representative authors include Kate Chopin, Alcée Fortier, Ernest Gaines, Walker Percy, Anne Rice and John Kennedy Toole. History A printing press began opera ...

, late August, held at the

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is an art museum located on the shore of the Øresund Sound in Humlebæk, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the most visited art museum in Denmark, and has an extensive permanent collection of modern and cont ...

Humlebæk Humlebæk is a town within the municipality of Fredensborg in North Zealand in Denmark, approximately 35 km north of Copenhagen. Humlebæk is located at the shore to Øresund and has a population of 9,758 (2022).Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. * Norwegian Festival of Literature,

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munic ...

, Norway, is the largest literature festival in the Scandinavian countries since 1996 *

Openair Literatur Festival Zürich {{short description, Aspect of system integration regarding artificial intelligence The core idea of Artificial Intelligence systems integration is making individual software components, such as speech synthesizers, interoperable with other componen ...

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

, held annually since 2013 * Peak Literary Festival, October 25 – November 5 /May 25 – June 6 * Prague Writers Festival,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Czech Republic, June 3–10 * Rencontres aubrac,

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitan ...

, France * Sarajevo Poetry Days,

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina * WALTIC, Stockholm, Sweden

North America

Banff Mountain Book Festival The Banff Mountain Book Festival is an annual book festival held at the Banff Centre in Banff, Canada. Grand Prize * 1994: Chris Bonington and Audrey Saukeld (editors), ''Heroic Climbs'' * 1995: Thomas Wharton, ''Icefields'' * 1996: Stephen Ve ...

, October 31 – November 2, 2007 *

Boston Book Festival The Boston Book Festival is an independent nonprofit group based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the name of its main event. The nonprofit was founded in 2009 by Deborah Z Porter, and aims to "celebrate the power of words to stimulate, agitate, ...

, annually in October * Burlington Book Festival, September 15–17, 2006 * Children's Literature Festival at the University of Central Missouri, held annually in March since 1969 * The Curwood Festival celebrates the life and writings of James Oliver Curwood the first weekend of June in

Owosso, Michigan Owosso is the largest city in Shiawassee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 15,194 at the 2010 census. The city is mostly surrounded by Owosso Township on its west, but the two are administered autonomously. The city wa ...

. *

Eden Mills Writers' Festival The Eden Mills Writers' Festival is held annually in the village of Guelph/Eramosa, Eden Mills, which is approximately east of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The festival includes readings by poets, authors, and other writers at various outdoor venues t ...

, Eden Mills/Guelph, Ontario, Canada * Festival of Literary Diversity, Brampton, Ontario, Canada * The Frye Festival, Moncton, New Brunswick, April 22–28, 2013. Honouring Northrop Frye. International cast. *

Guadalajara International Book Fair The Guadalajara International Book Fair, better known as the FIL (from its Spanish name: Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara) is the largest book fair in the Americas, and second-largest book fair in the world after Frankfurt's. It is al ...

, November 27 – December 5, 2010 *

Hollywood Book Festival The Hollywood Book Festival is an annual book festival in Hollywood, California (LA). Honored, are books that deserve more attention from television, video gaming,and multimedia communities. The book festival is one of the only publishing fest ...

, July 28, 2007 *

Litquake Litquake is San Francisco, California, San Francisco's annual literary festival. Originally named Litstock, the festival events took place in a single day in Golden Gate Park in the spring of 1999. It now has a two-week run in mid-October, as well ...

, since 2002,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, annually in October *

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books The ''Los Angeles Times'' Festival of Books is a free, public festival celebrating the written word. It is the largest book festival in the United States, annually drawing approximately 150,000 attendees. Started in 1996, the Festival is hel ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, penultimate weekend of April *

Miami Book Fair International The Miami Book Fair is an annual two-day street fair and literary festival organized by Miami Dade College. The fair brings over 300 national and international authors exhibitors to a weeklong gathering and includes pavilions for translation, ...

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, November *

National Book Festival The National Book Festival is a literary festival in the United States organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, founded by Laura Bush and James H. Billington in 2001. Background In 1995 the First Lady of Texas Laura Bush (a former ...

, produced by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

, September www.loc.gov * Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, annually in March. *

Texas Book Festival The Texas Book Festival is a free annual book fair held in Austin, Texas. The festival takes place in late October or early November. It is one of the top book festivals in the United States. Beginnings The festival was established in 1995 by La ...

, Austin, Texas held annually in the fall since 1996 *

Toronto International Festival of Authors The Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA), previously known as the International Festival of Authors (IFOA), is an annual festival presented in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Since 1974, the mission of TIFA programming has been ...

, held annually in late October and early November since 1980. *

Tucson Festival of Books The Tucson Festival of Books is a free annual book fair held in Tucson, Arizona during the second weekend in March. It was established in 2009 by Bill Viner, Frank Farias, John M. Humenik, Bruce Beach, and Brenda Viner. History The first annual ...

, Tucson, Arizona, held annually in March *

Winnipeg International Writers Festival The Winnipeg International Writers Festival is a Winnipeg, Manitoba based organization that puts together an annual literary festival known as THIN AIR. The festival program runs for a week each fall, and there are also several off-season events reg ...

, annually in September *

Kentucky Women Writers Conference The Kentucky Women Writers Conference had its beginnings in 1979 as a celebration of women writers at the University of Kentucky (UK). That first year featured Maya Angelou, Toni Cade Bambara, Ruth Stone, Alice Walker, and Ruth Whitman. Since the ...

, The,

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

, September 11–13, 2008 * The Word on the Street, several cities in Canada *

Wordfest Wordfest is a not-for-profit arts organization that produces one of Canada's largest international literary festivals, taking place each October in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to the yearly festival, Wordfest also facilitates and hosts year-roun ...

, Calgary, Alberta, held annually in October

Caribbean

Bocas Lit Fest The NGC Bocas Lit Fest is the Trinidad and Tobago literary festival that takes place annually during the last weekend of April in Port of Spain. Inaugurated in 2011, it is the first major literary festival in the southern Caribbean and largest lit ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, annually, last weekend of April * Calabash International Literary Festival,

Treasure Beach Treasure Beach is the name given to a stretch of four Jamaican coves and their associated settlements: Billy's Bay, Frenchman's Bay, Calabash Bay and Great (Pedro) Bay. The region is isolated from the main tourist areas and the minor roads conn ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

, biennially on even years in June

South America

Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty The Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty (International Literary Festival of Paraty- FLIP) is a literary festival held yearly since 2003 in the Brazilian city of Paraty, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The festival usually happens in early J ...

Is held in

Paraty Paraty (or Parati, ) is a preserved Portuguese colonial (1500–1822) and Brazilian Imperial (1822–1889) municipality with a population of about 43,000. Indeed, the name "Paraty" originates from the local Guaianá Indians' Indigenous Tupi ...

, city located in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. * International Poetry Festival of Medellín is held in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

, city located in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

. *

International Poetry Festival of Rosario The International Poetry Festival of Rosario (in Spanish, ''Festival Internacional de Poesía de Rosario'') is a cultural event organized in Rosario, Argentina. It gathers public and poets A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. P ...

is held in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most p ...

, city located in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. *

Trujillo Book Festival Trujillo Book Festival is an international literary festival held in Trujillo, a Peruvian city. The last edition in 2012 took place on March from days 1 to 12 in the ''Plazuela El Recreo'' an historical square of the city and had the participat ...

, is held in Trujillo city located in Peru. In the year 2012 was on March from days 1 to 12.

References

External links

*{{Commons category inline, Literary festivals

List of literary festivals

Africa

Asia

Asia-Pacific

Middle East

Europe

North America

Caribbean

South America

References

Further reading

External links