GUWAHATI: The sixth edition of the Shillong Literary Festival will be held from November 12 to 14 at Ward’s Lake in Shillong, bringing together writers, artists, readers and speakers for discussions, storytelling sessions, performances and other literary events.
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The festival, supported by the Department of Tourism, Meghalaya, will be held during Shillong’s cherry blossom season and will include programming focused on literature, culture and the region’s literary traditions.
A new initiative, titled “First Bloom: Discovering New Writing from the Northeast”, has been introduced this year to identify emerging fiction and narrative non-fiction writers from the region. The initiative carries a total prize pool of ₹75,000, with ₹50,000 for the winner and ₹25,000 for the runner-up.
As part of the build-up to the festival, two workshops on career opportunities in literature will be held on October 26 at the State Convention Centre in Shillong. Kanishka Gupta will conduct the first session from 10:30 AM to noon, while writers Mitra Phukan and Lalnunsanga Ralte will lead the second session from 3 pm to 5 pm. Each workshop will have 100 seats, with registrations being accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
The 2026 festival follows a prelude held earlier this year at Bikaner House in New Delhi. The event featured actor Naseeruddin Shah, 2026 Pulitzer Prize winner Suparna Sharma and journalist Shekhar Gupta, among others.
The Shillong edition will include discussions around the storytelling traditions of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo communities alongside contemporary Indian and international literature. The programme is also expected to feature conversations involving writers and speakers from different parts of the country and abroad.
Previous editions of the festival have featured authors including Banu Mushtaq, Vikram Seth, Shobhaa De, Shehan Karunatilaka and Francesc Miralles.
According to the organisers, more than 13,000 people attended last year’s edition. This year’s programme will also include evening music performances and food stalls featuring local cuisine alongside the literary events.
The festival is expected to provide a platform for emerging writers and performers from the Northeast while bringing together literary audiences and established authors during the three-day event.
