Literary festival explained

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. 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^[1]

Asia

Asia-Pacific

See also: List of literary festivals in India.

• Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF), held annually at Ubud, Bali in Indonesia (www.ubudwritersfestival.com)
• Gateway Litfest, February/ March
• Delhi Poetry Festival, January
• Dehradun Literature Festival, February
  • Jashn-e-Rekhta, Urdu literary festival held annually in New Delhi Guntur International Poetry Festival (GIPF), held annually since 2008 in Guntur, 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, March
• Islamabad Literature Festival, April
• Jakarta International Literary Festival (JILF), August
• Jaipur Literary Festival, January, also JLF Adelaide in September/October
• Sindh Literature Festival, January/February/March
• Karachi Literature Festival, February
• Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival, July
• Lahore Literary Festival, February
• Lit for Life, Chennai, Delhi January/February
• Lucknow Literary Festival, Lucknow, February/ March
• METAPHOR The Lucknow LitFest Lucknow December
• Nepal Literature Festival
• Newcastle, New South Wales National Young Writers' Festival, September/October
• Perth Writers' Festival, February/March
• Queer LitFest, Chennai (QLF), July/September
• Shanghai International Literary Festival
• Singapore Writers Festival, October/November 1
• Sydney Writers' Festival, May
• Williamstown Literary Festival April/May
• Chandigarh Literati, November
• Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF), July

Middle East

• Israel's Hebrew Book Week
• The Jerusalem International Writers Festival
• Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

Europe

• Authors' Reading Month, Brno, Wroclaw, Kosice, Lviv, Ostrava, in July
• Berlin International Literature Festival, in September
• Bradford Literature Festival, 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, autumn
• Conrad Festival, Kraków, Poland, October. The largest literary festival in Central Europe.
• Creative Folkestone 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, April
• Edinburgh International Book Festival, August 13–29, coinciding with the annual Edinburgh Festival^[2]
• FestivalandCo, Shakespeare-themed literary festival held in Paris, France, at the Shakespeare and Company bookstore
• Festivaletteratura, held in Mantua, Italy, at the beginning of September
• Göteborg Book Fair, Gothenburg, Sweden, Sept
• Harrogate International Festivals 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 International Festivals
• Harrogate History Festival, chaired in 2015 by Manda Scott, in October Harrogate International Festivals
• Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival, late April
• The Hay Festival, May 27 – June 5
• The North London Literary Festival, held late March or early April
• Istanbul Tanpınar Literature Festival, held in Istanbul, Turkey, at the beginning of May
• Jewish Book Week, London, late February and early March
• Louisiana Literature, late August, held at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark.
• Norwegian Festival of Literature, Lillehammer, Norway, is the largest literature festival in the Scandinavian countries since 1996
• Openair Literatur Festival Zürich, Zürich, held annually since 2013
• Peak Literary Festival, October 25 – November 5 /May 25 – June 6
• Prague Writers Festival, Prague, Czech Republic, June 3–10
• Rencontres aubrac, Aveyron, France
• Sarajevo Poetry Days, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• WALTIC, Stockholm, Sweden
• Wigtown Book Festival, Scotland^{[3] [4]}

North America

• Banff Mountain Book Festival, October 31 – November 2, 2007
• Boston Book Festival, 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.
• Eden Mills Writers' Festival, 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, November 27 – December 5, 2010
• Hollywood Book Festival, July 28, 2007
• Litquake, since 2002, San Francisco, annually in October
• Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Los Angeles, California, penultimate weekend of April
• Miami Book Fair International, Downtown Miami, Florida, November
• National Book Festival, produced by the Library of Congress, September www.loc.gov
• Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival, New Orleans, annually in March.
• Texas Book Festival, Austin, Texas held annually in the fall since 1996
• Toronto International Festival of Authors, held annually in late October and early November since 1980.
• Tucson Festival of Books, Tucson, Arizona, held annually in March
• Winnipeg International Writers Festival, annually in September
• Kentucky Women Writers Conference, The, Lexington, Kentucky, September 11–13, 2008
• The Word on the Street, several cities in Canada
• Wordfest, Calgary, Alberta, held annually in October

Caribbean

• Bocas Lit Fest, Trinidad and Tobago, annually, last weekend of April
• Calabash International Literary Festival, Treasure Beach, Jamaica, biennially on even years in June

South America

• Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty Is held in Paraty, city located in Brazil.
• International Poetry Festival of Medellín is held in Medellín, city located in Colombia.
• International Poetry Festival of Rosario is held in Rosario, city located in Argentina.
• Trujillo Book Festival, is held in Trujillo city located in Peru. In the year 2012 was on March from days 1 to 12.

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.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Port Harcourt Book Festival. Portharcourtbookfestival.com. 2014-06-05.
2. Web site: Home – Edinburgh International Book Festival. www.edbookfest.co.uk. 20 December 2016.
3. Web site: How becoming Scotland's National Book Town transformed Wigtown's fortunes . ITV News . 2023-12-07 . 2024-08-08.
4. Web site: Alan Cumming among Wigtown Book Festival highlights . BBC News . 2024-08-06 . 2024-08-08.