The World’s 12 Best Literary Festivals

One of the most famous and prestigious literary events in the world, the Hay Festival takes over a lovely small town in Wales each year. It brings together literature and the arts, with U.K. names dominating the event, but global authors are always present. The best thing about this festival is the setting: Hay-on-Wye is a book town filled with antiquarian and second-hand bookstores, little pop-up libraries, and many specialist stores. A destination in itself for book lovers, with the festival being the cherry on the cake.

Each year the Melbourne Writers Festival takes over the city’s halls and venues, filling them with inspirational Australian and international writers, which, in the past, have included Salman Rushdie, Pico Iyer, Bernadine Evaristo, and many more. There is always a global theme, which in 2023 was “I’ve Been Away For A While,” an invitation to find our way back to each other, to ourselves, and to the very world we all inhabit.

Taking place at around the same time as the Melbourne Writers Festival, allowing bookworms and writers to attend both, the Sydney Writers’ Festival is a week-long event bringing together global names for discussions, debates, and readings. The festival also hosts regular events throughout the year.

The largest book fair in the world, the Frankfurter Buchmesse, is where publishers, authors, and book professionals gather to showcase their work—and no, it is not all in German. This fair is a must for anybody speaking any language who has ambitions in the publishing world or simply loves to read.

The tagline of the Edinburgh International Book Festival: “The Joy of Words,” sums it up. This is an annual celebration of books and ideas with a diverse program of events and talks. The event takes place at the same time as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, whose tagline is “The world’s greatest platform for creative freedom,” with the entire city given over to an irresistible celebration of culture and creativity for the month of August.

Taking place each spring in one of the world’s oldest cities of learning, with Oxford’s university dating back to the 11th century, and with one of the world’s most amazing libraries: The Bodleian Library, the Oxford Literary Festival is one of the best around. One reason to attend is a prestigious program of talks, debates, and performances by well-known authors and thinkers. But add the amazing settings of colleges that have not changed over hundreds of years, and you are onto a winner.

Need an excuse to visit the fabled northern Indian state of Rajasthan? The state’s capital of Jaipur (called the Pink City) is known for its Maharajas’ palaces and the Palace of the Wind, and is also the site of the Jaipur Literary Festival, the world’s largest free and un-ticketed literary festival. International authors and creatives descend upon the city each winter, which opens in either late January or early February, under the motto of “Stories unite us.” There are music events, readings, and discussions, with literary greats such as William Dalrymple, scheduled to attend in 2024.

Where better to read than on an island in the Indian Ocean? The gorgeous inland town of Ubud on Bali, is perfect for picking up a bit of inspiration when the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival takes place each fall. And in 2023, from October 19-22, there is even more to celebrate, with the festival celebrating its 20th anniversary. Appropriately, this year’s motto is “Tita, Wartamana, Anagata: The Past, the Present, and the Future,” a perfect concept for this spiritual and philosophical island.

The Berlin International Literature Festival is just as alternative and individual as the city itself.  Here you can find programs dedicated to graphic novels, children’s and young adult literature, presentations of world literature in their original languages, and internationally known speakers such as Salman Rushdie. There is something for everyone here.

Should you find yourself in Toronto in September, don’t miss Canada’s longest-running literary festival and its yearly celebration of words, books, authors, and readers. Here, Canadian and international authors come together to talk about new releases, discuss writing as an art form, and inspire readers and writers. If you love a good whodunnit, head to Toronto for the Motive Crime & Mystery Festival.

The unique Louisiana Literature takes place in the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in the north-eastern Danish town between Copenhagen and Helsingør. Despite lasting just three days in August, it attracts seriously great names in the world of literature. Haruki Murakami, Joyce Carol Oates, Ian McEwan, and Pulitzer Prize winner Hernan Diaz are just a few in the prestigious line-up for 2023. This is one literary event that is not to be missed.