Dibrugarh, considered the second capital of Assam, will be buzzing with activity as the Dibrugarh University housed there will host the Dibrugarh University International Literature Festival (DUILF) from February 18-21. The four-day festival will focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) nations this year while bringing global literary conversations to northeast India. The DUILF 2026 will feature over 150 writers from 25 countries, who will participate in 52 sessions.
It will explore literary themes besides discussions on an eclectic range of issues from the world of business, music, films, sports, politics and history through panel discussions, book readings and launches, poetry sessions and the chance for visitors to interact and engage with the authors. The literature festival’s chief coordinator Rahul Jain, who is also associated with the Brahmaputra literature festival and Guwahati international film festival as artistic director, believes that the festival in its third year has brought about a particular sensitisation in urban areas on DUILF. Rahul says he wanted to do the festival away from Guwahati, at a public university, as students from the rural areas are deprived of such an exposure. “We see that the same set of students are coming over again and again, which proves DUILF’s popularity.
We see long-term. The students, who attend, will become part of the civil society in the years to come and they will take this festival forward,” said Rahul. The trustees of the lit fest chose Dibrugarh University, a 60-year-old public university, because of its stellar record and location, which is surrounded by rural (gramyanchal) and mofussil areas. The festival aims to bring in students from these generally deprived rural areas, covering their transport, food, and stay to expose them to the best authors and writers. The festival actively involves students from outside the host institution, specifically from the 177 affiliated colleges under Dibrugarh University, and also from neighbouring states like Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Arunachal.
Rahul explained that they bring a selected number of students (200-500 daily) from these areas and provide them with accommodation. The festival features topics like sports literature, military history, and films, catering to the university’s 30 odd departments and 17 odd centres. Even the professors are involved, with the event included in the academic calendar, and the approach allows students from all departments, such as physics or political science, to find relevant panels. “This event provides a crucial opportunity for students, many of whom have not been exposed to these cultures, to network and build lifetime relationships by interacting with authors, poets, and high-profile guests like former Indian foreign secretaries or sportspersons,” said the chief coordinator of the festival.
The non-profit has found a sustainable model to fund the festival. It has decentralised funding and relies on contributions from the university, stakeholders, local companies, who have begun “owning” the festival because of its location in Dibrugarh to serve rural areas. The event gives free access to students and other interested parties. Even the students are invested in the festival. Aftara Sultana, a student of English literature, who now also is a research scholar and guest lecturer, said she has been involved with the festival since its inception in 2024. Initially, she served as a repertor and comparer, and attended sessions as a student. She highly values the festival because it “bridges the gap between the authors and the readers,” allowing students to directly connect with authors whose works they are studying.
She said: “The festival is interdisciplinary and democratic. My friends from the economics and anthropology departments are as involved as those from English literature. Last year, there was a session with editors of journals, where I met with one of the authors whose work I was using for my thesis. Sessions with journal editors provide clarity on the publication process, which is important for research scholars like me.” Aftara said the excitement for the festival is pervasive, with even first-semester students looking forward to it based on their seniors’ accounts. She said that students from outside Assam, including a research scholar from Arunachal, whom she met last year, inquired about the next festival, indicating a welcoming atmosphere.