Conrad K. Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, will inaugurate the sixth edition of the Shillong Literature Festival at Wards Lake on Thursday, November 12, 2026. The festival, slated for three days, will celebrate books and writers, ideas and conversations. Authors, poets and filmmakers from across Meghalaya, India and abroad will participate.
Shillong Literary Festival 2026: Celebrating Voices From the Hills And The Wider World
The sixth edition of the Shillong Literary Festival will be held from November 12 to 14 at Wards Lake
The festival’s inauguration will feature Dr. Vijay Kumar D., IAS, Commissioner & Secretary Tourism Department, Padma Shri Awardee Hally War, Booker Prize-winning authors Kiran Desai and Damon Galgut, among others, along with the launch of books by Daniel Challam, Rudy Warjri, Sanjoy Hazarika, Yadawanka Pala, Streamlet Dkhar and Bijoya Sawian.
Rooted in the storytelling traditions of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo communities, the festival has grown since its first edition in 2021 into a vibrant meeting place for voices from the hills and the wider world, welcoming more than 293 speakers over five editions.
Apart from the host of sessions, a dedicated children's & youth corner will invite young minds into storytelling, puppetry, pottery, origami, zine-making, traditional music and open mic sessions, along with face painting, a doodle arena and creative writing through the day. Its own stage will host puppet shows, music jams, a live band and book launches, while live performances and local food entrepreneurs will add warmth to the lakeside. The famed cherry blossoms of Shillong will be in bloom at the time of the festival, adding a lovely splash of colour to the proceedings.
Ahead of the festival, ‘The Farewell Letter’, a dramatised English reading of Rabindranath Tagore's ‘Shesher Kobita’, the iconic love story set in Shillong, was presented on November 11. The performance was led by storytellers Poulami Chattopadhyay & Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee, under the direction of Sohag Sen. The reading holds special meaning for the city: Tagore stayed in Shillong during his visits in 1919, 1923 and 1927, and its pine-clad hills form the backdrop of his novel, where Amit and Labanya meet and fall in love.
Festival attendees can look forward to an enriching literary, cultural and culinary experience seeped in the beauty of the creative spirit and the power of the human imagination.
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