Literary festival
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
- Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF), held annually at Ubud, Bali in Indonesia (www.ubudwritersfestival.com)
- Gateway Litfest, February/ March
- Delhi Poetry Festival, January 19
- Dehradun Literature Festival, February 17-18, 2017
- Jashn-e-Rekhta, Urdu literary festival held annually in New Delhi
- Adelaide Writers' Week, held during the Adelaide Festival of Arts
- Brisbane Writers' Festival, September 29 – October 2
- Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, held annually in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Galle Literary Festival, January 27–30
- George Town Literary Festival
- Hay Festival Dhaka, November 15–18
- Hong Kong International Literary Festival, annually in October/November (www.festival.org.hk)
- Islamabad Literature Festival, April 24–26
- Jakarta International Literary Festival (JILF), August 20-24, 2019
- Jaipur Literary Festival, January 21–25, 2015
- Kalinga Literary Festival , held annually in Monsoon
- Karachi Literature Festival, February 5-6, 2011.
- Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival, July 29–31
- Lahore Literary Festival, February 20–23
- Lit for Life, Chennai, Delhi (January 11–13, February 8) www.thehindulfl.com
- Lucknow Literary Festival, Lucknow (Annually in February/ March)[2]
- Melbourne Writers Festival, Annually in August/ September
- Mystic Kalinga Festival Annual festival of verse, music, dance and spiritual discourse
- Nepal Literature Festival
- Newcastle, New South Wales National Young Writers' Festival, September 28 – October 2
- Perth Writers' Festival, February 23 – 1 March
- Purvanchal Literary Festival, Uttar Pradesh, Annually in December
- Queer LitFest, Chennai (QLF), July/September
- Shanghai International Literary Festival
- Singapore Writers Festival, October 24 – November 1
- Sydney Writers' Festival, May 23–29
- Williamstown Literary Festival April 26 – May 1, 2011
- Chandigarh Literati – Chandigarh Literature Festival, November 23–24
Middle East
Europe
- Asia House Festival of Asian Literature, Asia House, London, in May
- Authors' Reading Month, Brno, Wroclaw, Kosice, Lviv, Ostrava, in July
- Berlin International Literature Festival, in September
- 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, Poland, October. The largest literary festival in Central Europe.
- Cúirt International Festival of Literature, Galway, April
- Edinburgh International Book Festival, August 13–29, coinciding with the annual Edinburgh Festival[3]
- 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
- Folkestone Literary Festival, September 20–25
- 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
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.
- 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, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, late April/early May
- 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
- Tucson Festival of Books, Tucson, Arizona, held annually in March
- Winnipeg International Writers Festival, annually in September
- Women Writers Conference, The, Lexington, Kentucky, September 11–13, 2008
- 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.
References
- "Port Harcourt Book Festival". Portharcourtbookfestival.com. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
- "Lucknow Literary Festival". lucknowliteraryfestival. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
- "Home – Edinburgh International Book Festival". www.edbookfest.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
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
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