Jaipur Literature Festival 2026: 100+ Global Voices To Take Centre Stage In US, Canada

The Jaipur Literature Festival’s US and Canadian editions will travel across seven North American cities from September 11 to October 4, bringing more than 100 writers, thinkers, artists and other cultural voices together for its biggest regional programme yet.

JLF USA and JLF Toronto will be held in North Carolina, Los Angeles, Seattle, Colorado, Toronto, New York and Houston. The expanded programme will explore AI, technology, geopolitics, history, empire, Indigenous rights, climate change, migration, faith, diaspora, art, food and entrepreneurship.

Among the prominent speakers are author-politician Shashi Tharoor, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Kai Bird, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, Booker Prize-winning author Yann Martel and economist Arvind Subramanian. The line-up also includes Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani, author Sam Dalrymple, diplomat-author Lakshmi Puri, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Vijay Seshadri and Indian-American businessman Kanwal Rekhi.

The seven-city programme begins in North Carolina from September 11 to 13, followed by Los Angeles from September 14 to 16, Seattle from September 17 to 20, Colorado from September 22 to 23, Toronto from September 25 to 26, New York from September 29 to 30 and Houston from October 2 to 4. Los Angeles and Toronto will host the festival for the first time, adding to its North American reach.

The organisers said the programme will also look at the impact of AI on work, culture and society, as well as the changing global balance of power. A travelling visual art exhibition by documentary photographer Vicky Roy will be shown in Los Angeles and Seattle.

Teamwork Arts Managing Director Sanjoy K Roy said each city will have a programme shaped by its local audience, institutions and cultural partners. “Every city obviously has a different need,” he said, explaining that the festival is designed around the character of each host city.

Roy said about 35 per cent of the programme is fiction and 65 per cent non-fiction, covering subjects from science and mathematics to politics, history, philosophy, gender and migration. He also called for closer links between the arts and sciences to encourage creative thinking and innovation.

JLF began its international journey with its first London edition in 2014. Its international editions now span Australia, Europe, North America, Ireland, the UK and West Asia. The festival is also preparing for its 20th edition in Jaipur in 2027.