For readers, the only festival bigger than Christmas and other celebrations are the book festivals! And I know most of us would agree to this. But unfortunately, not many of us are aware of the right place and the right time. If you’re one of those, then here is a list of book festivals to look out for in 2021- India and the world!
I have been fortunate enough to visit some book fairs around the nation but going to a book festival is still on my bucket list. Literature enthusiasts always are so excited about these festivals around the globe, and that is why I made a list of 10 Book Festivals To Look Out For In 2021!
Book Festivals are always a pleasure to attend. While India organizes some of the excellent book festivals, the world also contributes to it a lot! Rainbow Lit Fest, Mountain Echo Lit Fest, Dhaka Lit Fest, Buenos Aires Lit Fest are some of the tough competitors listed below.
Without thinking further, let us straight jump to the list of Book Festivals of 2021 that no one is allowed to miss! But What makes them so unique? Let us find out!
1. Rainbow Lit Fest
If I visit any of the book festivals of 2021, Rainbow Lit Fest will be the first one.
The vibrant book festival is the one to be in the winters of December in New Delhi, India. This festival was blessed by tremendous authors like Devdutt Pattnaik, Nandita Das, founder of Naz Foundation Anjali Gopalan, gay rights activist and translator Saleem Kidwai, and more in 2019.
The event was more than just a book festival. It was a platform to showcase art, including poetry, prose, music, films, and much more, in all different languages, mainly Hindi, English, and Urdu.
There were a lot of LGBTQ+ authors with their books in hand, bringing together the whole narrative of sexuality.
There is always a lot going on than we know. And this is why this festival is something you cannot miss!
2. Mountain Echos
For ordinary people, going on a vacation on hill stations might be a dream. But for readers, attending a book festival in that location would be heaven.
Bringing that heaven to reality is the Mountain Echos book festival of 2021.
I mean, who wouldn’t want that to happen?
The book festival takes place in Thimpu.
What’s unique about this place?
When you visit this place, you will realize what you have been missing your whole life. The exotic range of the Himalayas becomes a perfect wallpaper for this book festival.
The festival has several notable speakers, a poet, an art restorer, a politician, and, obviously, authors. If you are a mountain person and a book lover, then Mountain Echos Book Festival is the place to be.
What’s the wait for now?
3. Dhaka Lit Fest
Extending the boundaries a little bit, we reach the Dhaka Lit Fest, one of the book festivals to look out for in 2021.
Dhaka Lit Fest has been making headlines for quite a while now. Since the pandemic had put a break to all these fantastic book festivals, now is the time to get everything back on track.
In 2019, the event had the pleasure to invite award-winning author and Booker prize finalist Monica Ali, iconic author of Bangla literature, Sankar, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jeffrey Gettleman, writer Shashi Tharoor, and DSC Prize-winning author H.M. Naqvi as part of the speaker line-up.
The book festival organizes more than 90 sessions, screenings, readings, and all the fantastic book festival things while also providing a platform to the budding authors and celebrating the ethics of Bangladesh.
4. IME Nepal Literature Fest
Moving a little closer to the Himalayas is the IME Nepal Literature Fest. This book festival has been running in the country for eight consecutive editions, a milestone in itself.
Any other book festivals haven’t yet achieved this milestone.
This book festival of 2021 is more than just an event. It is a budding ground for a lot of new authors and thinkers all over the nation.
The last edition of the book festival was organized on the beautiful lakeside of Pokhara’s Few Lake from December 13 to December 16 and was a delight to be in.
In the literary festival, famous Indian personalities such as Shashi Tharoor, Javed Akhtar, and Shabana Azmi were also present.
An award ceremony was also held in the last edition, including the most prestigious award that South Asian literary works could get- The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.
What more can you want in a book festival? One of the book festivals to look out for in 2021.
5. Buenos Aires Book Fest
When looking for book festivals of 2021, Buenos Aires Book Fest is the one not to miss out on.
This amazing Book Festival of 2021 is one of the most important literary and book festivals in the Spanish world and comes under one of the top 5 literary events.
This 20-days festival takes place in late April every year and surprisingly, over a million people participate in the festival.
What makes this book festival even more special is that before people can come and look roam at the book festival, the event organizes a two-day exclusive professional workshop for literary agents, graphic designers, publishers, and everyone who contributes to the literature industry.
So whether you are an author, a publisher, a literary agent, or someone who loves to read, you will find something there for you.
6. Litquake San Francisco
If just like me, the thought of book festivals intrigues you, then the Litquake San Francisco book festival is one of the book festivals of 2021 that will raise your spirits to another level.
This book festival bounds the whole of San Francisco with the vibrant energy of literature.
Book festivals are meant to encourage everyone to pay more attention to the forgotten books and the new ones being released. And Litquake San Francisco book festival of 2021 is one of the events that do that.
Like all the literary and book festivals, this festival is also an excellent platform for new and creative ideas. It enables the authors, writers, and poets to meet and create a very booksy environment.
Not just the poets and authors, the place is also for children and adults interested in literature and books. There are exciting workshops, book premieres, readings, and so much fun one can only imagine!
7. Brooklyn Book Fest
If you are in New York City right now and looking for a book festival to visit, then the Brooklyn Book Fest has to be your favorite place!
This book festival is one of the highly anticipated book festivals of 2021 and of all time.
The Brooklyn Book Fest attracts thousands of people all across the city as well as the country. People come out to see new works and emerging authors and writers, providing much-needed exposure to the new ones.
The festival is hosted in September for around a week allowing the participants to meet their favorite author.
8. Brahmaputra Lit Fest
Brahmaputra Lit Fest is one familiar spot for both national and international thinkers and authors.
Unlike any other book fest, the Brahmaputra Lit Fest also provides a unique ground to the new and emerging authors from the North-Eastern states of India.
The 2019 edition of the Brahmaputra Lit Fest was held in Guwahati, Assam, where more than 130 writers participated. The 2019 edition of this book festival also featured KE Priyamvada, who has represented the nation in over 20 countries regarding various issues from literature to sports, cinema to medicine, etc.
9. Gateway Lit Fest
The Gateway Lit Fest is one place for language-lovers in the whole subcontinent.
Book festival of 2021 takes place in Mumbai and attracts people from all across the nation because of the linguistic diversity.
This book festival focuses on giving new authors and writers of the religious languages of India such as Bengali, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Oriya, and Tamil.
The festival also features authors and books written in Hindi and English.
The 2019 edition of Gateway Lit Fest was organized at NCPA and was like the Christmas of Indian literature. What excited the bookworms the most was the discussion of works of more than 60 authors in more than 20 languages.
What a delight!
10. Singapore Writers Fest
The Singapore Writers Fest is just like a bumper sale for book lovers!
The 2019 edition of the book festival has a unique theme, ‘A Language of Our Own,’ exploring the extraordinary impact of languages that can so severely hurt and soothingly heal the reader.
This book festival featured more than 200 international authors, including the ones in Singapore.
So, it is highly advisable to keep track of when the tickets and passes for the 2021 edition of this book fest come out.
You don’t want to miss this fantastic book festival of 2021!
Summing Up
Here is the list of 10 book festivals for 2021 in India and all across the globe as well. I would consider myself very lucky if I had the chance to set foot in any of these book festivals. And trust me, you would be too!
Don’t wait around anymore for anyone. Grab the first opportunity on the tickets and passes of all these book festivals of 2021.
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Toodles!
