Hyderabad Literary Festival

The multi-lingual and multi-disciplinary Hyderabad Literary Festival has brought together some of the finest creative minds in India and abroad since its launch in 2010. The festival, which presents about 150 speakers every year, acts as a bridge between writers and readers, artists and audiences and aspiring writers and publishers. The programme includes talks, conversations, panel discussions, readings, workshops, exhibitions, book launches, cultural performances and film screenings. There are also events for college students and school children.

Writers such as Abhijit Banerjee, Amitav Ghosh, Andrew Whitehead, Benyamin, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Farrukh Dhondy, Feisal Alkazi, Gideon Haigh, Githa Hariharan, Harsh Mander, Jerry Pinto, John Zubrzycki, K. Satchidanandan, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Pushpesh Pant, Ritu Menon, Suniti Namjoshi, Timeri N. Murari and Upamanyu Chatterjee have been part of the Hyderabad Literary Festival over the years.

Each edition features a ‘Guest Nation’, a foreign country that is invited to showcase its literature, art and culture. Australia, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Spain and the UK are among the countries featured so far. Every year, there is also one ‘Indian Language in Focus’. Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu are some of the languages whose writers and works have been celebrated in the past.

The Hyderabad Literary Festival is a free festival for all age groups that believes in inclusivity, accessibility and environmental consciousness. Among its eco-friendly initiatives are the minimisation of the use of plastic and thermocol, the use of natural materials and organisation of events that promote environmental awareness. The festival, which was held virtually in 2021 and 2022, will return in January 2023.

Check out more literature festivals here.