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
Nigeria
Asia
Asia-Pacific
Australia
Bangladesh
China
Hong Kong
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
- Queer LitFest, Chennai (QLF), July/September
- Wayanad Literature Festival (WLF), Biennale, December
Indonesia
Malaysia
Nepal
Pakistan
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Middle East
Israel
United Arab Emirates
Europe
Austria
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Czech Republic
Denmark
England
- Black British Book Festival, October
- 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
- Hay Festival, May to June
- Harrogate International Festivals Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, July
- Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival, April
- Jewish Book Week, February/March
- Lancaster Literature Festival, March and October
- 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
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Norway
Poland
Scotland
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Wales
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
- Whistler Writers Festival, Whistler, British Columbia, November
- Winnipeg International Writers Festival, September
- The Word on the Street, several cities
- Wordfest, Calgary, Alberta, October
Mexico
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
- Printers Row Lit Fest, Chicago, Illinois, September
- 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
Trinidad and Tobago
South America
Argentina
Brazil
Colombia
Peru
References
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