The Jaipur Literature Festival 2026, beginning here on January 15, will bear local Jaipurian character to a greater extent amid the presence of global speakers, laureates, and dignitaries, as the organisers plan to showcase the deep colours of the culture and creativity of royal Rajasthan.
Star speakers such as Nobel Laureate Esther Duflo, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson GK Gandhi, former chief justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Arvind Subramaniam, Vishwanathan Anand, and William Sieghart will continue to grace the much-awaited event to enlighten audiences on vital issues in the five-day event.
The key facets of the upcoming 19th edition of the Festival, established as ‘the greatest literary show on earth’ and being presented by Vedanta, were announced at a press conference at Hotel Clarks Amer here on Monday by event producer Teamworks Arts’ Managing Director Sonjoy K Roy.
The festival—comprising 300 sessions and 500 speakers—will continue to serve as a premier global platform for literature, ideas, and dialogue, convening distinguished voices from diverse disciplines, geographies, and generations, Roy assured.
This year, the event will build on its deep-rooted relationship with Rajasthan’s cultural and creative ecosystem. This edition promises an extraordinary confluence of writers, thinkers, policymakers, artists, and public intellectuals from around the world, he said.
Roy also announced the presentation of the Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia Award for Poetry 2026. The award is judged by a distinguished jury comprising Namita Gokhale, Sukrita Paul Kumar, Ranjit Hoskote, and Siddharth Sethia and recognises the awardee’s profound and enduring contribution to poetry. Instituted in memory of Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia, an iconic poet in Rajasthani and Hindi, freedom fighter, social reformer, and Padma Shri awardee—the honour celebrates a body of work that reflects lyrical depth, moral clarity, and a deep engagement with society and the human condition. The award will be presented at a formal ceremony during the festival on Saturday, 17 January 2026, along with a jury citation and a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000.
It is not just about conversations, orations, and talks in formal sessions; the essence and reflections of Rajasthani culture, hospitality, and food will be felt in all activities. Each year, the festival sustains a substantial cultural and economic footprint across the state, engaging approximately 2,000 locally based professionals across production, technical operations, hospitality, venue management, logistics, transport, and volunteer teams, Roy added.
Star speakers in the festival this year include Abhishek Singh, Ali Eslami, Alice Oswald, Alok Vaid-Menon, Anamika, Andrew Graham Dixon, Anne Applebaum, Anuradha Roy, Arvind Subramaniam, Banu Mushtaq, D Y Chandrachud, Edward Luce, Ella Al-Shamahi, Esther Duflo, Fara Dabhoiwala, Fintan O’Toole, Fredrik Logevall, Gaur Gopal Das, Gopal Krishna Gandhi, Janina Ramirez, Javed Akhtar, Jimmy Wales, Kiran Desai, Leo Varadkar, Maharaja Gaj Singh, and Marcia Langton.
Megha Majumdar, Nicholas Stern, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Percival Everett, Rachel Clarke, Richard Flanagan, Richard Horton, Shikhar Dhawan, Stephen Fry, Sudha Murty, Tanya Talaga, Tim Berners-Lee, Tom Freston, Ussama Makdisi, Vir Das, Vishwanathan Anand, William Sieghart, Yoshitoki Ōima, and many others will also join, making it a truly global celebration of ideas, literature, and dialogue.