Landmark 20th edition celebrates two decades of literary exchange, cultural dialogue and the power of multilingual storytelling, with the continued support of the Government of Rajasthan.
India | September 01 2026: As the Jaipur Literature Festival prepares to celebrate its landmark 20th edition in January 2027, the Festival marks two decades of creating spaces where writers, thinkers, artists and audiences come together to engage with books, ideas and conversations that shape our understanding of the world.
Over the past two decades, the Jaipur Literature Festival has evolved from a gathering of writers and readers in Jaipur into one of the world’s most recognised literary platforms, transforming the way literature is experienced, discussed and accessed by audiences across India and globally.
Since its inception in 2008, the Festival has hosted more than 8,000 writers, speakers and artists, welcomed over 5 million visitors on-ground, and reached an estimated 1 billion+ audiences through digital platforms, broadcast partnerships and media networks.
Beyond scale, the Festival’s enduring impact lies in its ability to bring literature and ideas into public conversations. By creating an open and accessible platform for diverse voices, Jaipur Literature Festival has helped expand literary engagement beyond traditional publishing and academic circles, making books, ideas and intellectual conversations accessible to wider audiences.
Over twenty years, the Festival has played a significant role in shaping India’s contemporary literary and cultural ecosystem, creating a shared space where conversations move across literature, history, politics, science, philosophy, arts and contemporary culture. From Jaipur to the world, the Festival has expanded into an international network with more than 15 editions across countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Australia, the Middle East, the Maldives, and Ireland. Through these editions, Jaipur Literature Festival has emerged as a cultural bridge, connecting India’s literary traditions with international audiences while bringing global conversations into dialogue with Indian perspectives. The Festival’s influence has extended beyond its own editions, with more than 300 literary gatherings and festivals across India, the region and around the world drawing inspiration from the culture of open literary exchange that Jaipur Literature Festival has helped foster. Together, these platforms reflect the growing role of literary festivals in bringing writers, readers and ideas into wider public conversations.
Over the years, the Festival has featured some of the most influential voices across literature, culture and public life, including Nobel Laureates, Booker Prize winners, heads of state, economists, philosophers, artists and global thinkers.
The Festival’s remarkable journey has been made possible through the continued support of the Government of Rajasthan, whose longstanding partnership, dating back to the Festival’s inception in 2008, has been integral to its growth and identity. Rajasthan has provided the Festival with a distinctive home and an extraordinary cultural setting, while sustained support and access to state resources have enabled it to flourish from a gathering of writers and readers into an internationally recognised literary and cultural platform. In turn, the Festival has placed Jaipur and Rajasthan firmly within the context of global literary narratives, welcoming rebow writers, thinkers and artists alongside audiences from India and around the world, while celebrating the state’s rich cultural heritage.
The Festival’s journey has been defined by openness, accessibility and inclusion. At a time when literary conversations were often limited to established literary circles, Jaipur Literature Festival helped create a participatory culture of reading, listening and exchange, bringing together voices across generations, languages, disciplines and geographies.
This journey has also been marked by a sustained commitment to multilingual storytelling and cultural plurality. Over the years, the Festival has amplified voices across Indian and international languages, strengthened translation cultures, and created opportunities for cross-linguistic exchange.
Through multilingual programming, translation initiatives, and sessions featuring writers across Indian and international languages, the Festival has created pathways for regional voices and literary traditions to reach wider audiences, reflecting its belief that every language carries stories, histories, and perspectives that enrich the wider cultural conversation. As part of its 20th anniversary milestone, the Festival’s announcement has also been released simultaneously across all 22 official languages of India, reinforcing its commitment to ensuring that ideas and stories reach diverse audiences across linguistic and cultural boundaries.
The Festival’s programming reflects its belief that knowledge is interconnected, bringing together conversations spanning literature, history, politics, science, economics, gender studies, health, migration and the environment.
Anchored around the theme “20 Years of Ideas. Stories. Conversations.”, the 20th edition reflects both continuity and evolution, celebrating the Festival’s legacy while looking ahead to the future of literary culture in an increasingly interconnected world.
Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director, Teamwork Arts & Producer, Jaipur Literature Festival, said: “For twenty years, the Jaipur Literature Festival has been built on a simple belief that books and ideas have the power to bring people together. What has sustained the festival is the generosity of our writers, the curiosity of our audiences, and a shared commitment to dialogue across languages, cultures and perspectives. As we enter our twentieth edition, we celebrate that journey while looking ahead to the many conversations still to come.”
Namita Gokhale, Festival Co-Director, Jaipur Literature Festival, said: “The soul of India lies in her literary heritage and linguistic diversity. It is only appropriate that we celebrate our milestone 20th year with a tribute to her many languages through our Bhasha Swarmala series.”
Preeta Singh, President Teamwork Arts, said: “Over the past two decades, the Jaipur Literature Festival has grown into one of the world’s leading literary and cultural platforms because it has remained rooted in the power of books, ideas and meaningful dialogue. That journey has been made possible not only by extraordinary writers and engaged audiences, but also by the enduring support of our partners, sponsors and institutions who share our belief in the transformative role of culture. As we celebrate this landmark 20th edition, we also look ahead to the Festival’s next chapter, building deeper collaborations, reaching new audiences and creating greater cultural impact across India and around the world. Our vision is to continue fostering partnerships that champion literature, ideas and public discourse, ensuring that the Festival remains an open, inclusive and globally relevant platform for generations to come.”
Supported by the Government of Rajasthan, the 20th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival will take place in Jaipur from 14th to 18th January 2027, bringing together leading voices from literature, culture, academia and the arts.
As it enters its third decade, Jaipur Literature Festival continues to build on its defining legacy, making literature and ideas more accessible, participatory and relevant for audiences across generations, languages and geographies. The Festival remains committed to creating spaces where diverse voices meet, conversations evolve and ideas continue to inspire change.
Founded in 2006, Jaipur Literature Festival is recognised as one of the world’s leading literary festivals and a major global platform for literature, ideas and cultural exchange.
Note to Editors
About Jaipur Literature Festival
Described as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’, the Jaipur Literature Festival is a global literary phenomenon that brings together a diverse mix of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, and leaders to foster dialogue, debate, and the exchange of ideas. For two decades, the Jaipur Literature Festival has stood at the intersection of unbridled change – transforming minds, inspiring new writing and empowering fresh literary ideas. Never just a gathering of authors, it has since its inception evolved into the world’s most expansive and democratic platform for informed discourse. In an era riddled with geopolitical conflicts, wars, and fragmentation, literature acts as the glue that holds humanity together, and Jaipur Literature Festival is a living manifestation of that space where stories, languages, and ideas bridge divides, reminding us that dialogue is more urgent than ever.
As we celebrate our 20th edition, we reaffirm our vision: to curate conversations and dialogue around books and ideas that connect the past with the present and shape the future of literature. From the arts to astronomy, from geopolitics to gene theory, this is where poetry meets particle physics, where history debates gender, where health, migration, conflict, and the environment are given equal space. This is mirrored in the extraordinary diversity of voices we host in multiple global and Indian languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Rajasthani, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, and many more-ensuring that every narrative and voice thrives, and every story finds a home. Jaipur Literature Festival’s 20-year journey has been defined by a courageous, inclusive ideology. We pioneered the literature festival trend in India, with every major literary festival in the country today following in the wake of Jaipur Literature Festival’s advent, and have become the global gold standard, expanding from one city to over fifteen international editions across the USA, UK, Canada, Spain, Australia, the Maldives, the Middle East and now Ireland.
About Teamwork Arts
Teamwork Arts, India’s pioneering arts company, crafting cultural experiences for over 30 years, has taken India to the world and brought the world to India, presenting and nurturing the finest of Indian performers, writers, change makers and visual artists to the forefront. Every year, we produce over 33 festivals in 45 cities and 19 countries in the fields of performing & visual arts, knowledge and literature. We produce the world’s largest literary gathering: the annual Jaipur Literature Festival; JLF international now travels to the US, UK, and Europe. Through its digital avatar, the Jaipur Literature Festival reached over 35 million viewers in January 2024. Some key offerings among our digital and hybrid endeavours are – Art Matters, which empowers artists across India to collaborate by commissioning them to create new works, and Be Inspired: Fast tracking the future, that changes the narrative of scientific possibility to innovation. Two new milestones were added to our festival repertoire in 2024 – the Jaigarh Heritage Festival in Jaipur, celebrating India’s regal past and rich legacy of art, culture and architecture, and Voices of Faith in London, exploring the philosophies of faith to find a way towards collective empathy and understanding, and in 2026, Avakai: Amaravati Festival of Cinema, Culture and Literature was inaugurated in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. More information at: www.teamworkarts.com
