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, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

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 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

* Port Harcourt Book Festival, October 20–25 * Chinua Achebe Literary Festival, November 16

Asia

Asia-Pacific

* Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF), held annually at Ubud,

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, 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 o ...

in Indonesia (www.ubudwritersfestival.com) * Gateway Litfest, February/ March * Delhi Poetry Festival, January * Dehradun Literature Festival, February * Jashn-e-Rekhta,

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

literary festival held annually in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

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

Guntur Guntur (), natively spelt as Gunturu, is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district. The city is part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is lo ...

, 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 Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

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

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

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 * Chandigarh Literati, November * Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF), July * Ma Literature Festival January/February 2

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 * Black British Book Festival, October, held annually since 2021 * Bradford Literature Festival, now held around June/July * Cheltenham Literature Festival, October 6–15 * Chester Literature Festival, October * The Children's Bookshow, autumn * Conrad Festival,

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, 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 Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, April * Edinburgh International Book Festival, August 13–29, coinciding with the annual

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, 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 ...

* FestivalandCo,

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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 natio ...

-themed literary festival held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

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

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, 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 * 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 Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey, at the beginning of May * Jewish Book Week, London, late February and early March * Lahti International Writers' Reunion LIWRE, held in Lahti, Finland, in June a week before Midsummer, every other year in even-numbered years * Liverpool Literary Festival, Liverpool, October * Louisiana Literature, late August, held at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. * Norwegian Festival of Literature, Lillehammer, Norway, is the largest literature festival in the Scandinavian countries since 1996 * Openair Literatur Festival Zürich,

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, held annually since 2013 * Oxford Literary Festival, Oxford, England, held annually each Spring since 2001 * Peak Literary Festival, October 25 – November 5 /May 25 – June 6 * Prague Writers Festival,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

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

Aveyron Aveyron (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron (river), Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyro ...

, France * Sarajevo Poetry Days,

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina * WALTIC, Stockholm, Sweden * Wigtown Book Festival, Scotland

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 San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, annually in October * Los Angeles Times Festival of Books,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, penultimate weekend of April *

Miami Book Fair International The Miami Book Fair is an annual street fair and literary festival organized by Miami Dade College. History Miami Book Fair International, originally known as "Books by the Bay," was founded in 1984 by Miami Dade College President Eduardo J. Pa ...

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English 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 is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, November * National Book Festival, produced by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, September www.loc.gov
New Orleans Poetry Festival

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, annually in April. * Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival,

, 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 Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, 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 Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

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

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, biennially on even years in June

South America

* Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty Is held in Paraty, city located in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. * International Poetry Festival of Medellín is held in

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

, city located in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. * International Poetry Festival of Rosario is held in

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

, city located in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

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

References

External links

* {{Authority control