Jaipur Literature Festival 2026: What to expect from this year's edition? Festival co-director Namita Gokhale shares insight

The Jaipur Literature Festival has been an integral part of the Pink City for more than a decade where art meets culture meets entertainment meets insight meets knowledge. People from all over the country travel to Jaipur to immerse themselves in the culture that unfolds over period of 3-4 days. There are panels, discussions, debates, interviews, and so much more that people carry nothing back but fond memories and experiences. And the 2026 edition also happens to be a memorable one. This time too, the venue shall be Hotel Clarks Amer.

Namita Gokhale, writer and Festival Co-Director shares details

Gokhale was quoted saying, “ The Jaipur Literature Festival 2026 promises to be a vintage edition. Our sessions and themes traverse cultures and continents while keeping a special focus on the rich diversity of Indian languages and literature.”

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She added, “We examine the changing realities of our world, in geopolitical flashpoints, in emergent realities of AI, and in the articulation of language and the fluidity of literary formats. The Jaipur BookMark takes us to the core issues of publishing and the business of books. January – when the world visits Jaipur and Jaipur visits the world."

The first list of speakers

JLF 2026 will see speakers like Olga Tokarczuk, Stephen Fry, Jung Chang, Jon Lee Anderson, K.R. Meera, Manu Joseph, Shobhaa Dé, Vishwanathan Anand, Timothy Berners-Lee. There are 350 speakers are expected to be a part of JLF spanning over six venues.

William Dalrymple on JLF

Historian, author and Festival Co-Director, said, “The Jaipur Literature Festival is a celebration of the written word & oral tradition, a testament to the power of stories & literature to inspire and connect.”

He added, “This year, as we gather once more in the Pink City, we look forward to welcoming an unmatched lineup of genius writers, thinkers, and dreamers from across the world. It is a carnival of literature that promises to ignite ideas of both writing & reading."

What happened at JLF 2025

We saw the attendance of Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan, Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, attending the festival with his in-laws—Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and author Sudha Murty.

Also gracing the festival with their presence were Kailash Kher, MK Raina.