Kalinga Literary Festival to celebrate literature without borders

A bevy of writers, translators, artists, policy-makers, and leaders from India and the world will gather for the 12th edition of the Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) 2026 to be held from 8-11 January at Mayfair, Bhubaneswar.

The theme, ‘Stories That Shape Humanity: Translating Worlds, Transforming Futures’, foregrounds translation, storytelling, and cultural exchange to break barriers and foster empathy.

There are curated sessions on women, gender and empowerment; politics, democracy and public policy; technology, media and artificial intelligence; cinema, performing arts and popular culture; business; climate, ecology and sustainability; Bhakti and civilisational thought; sport, biography and lived experience. There will be a special focus on Hindi and Odia literature, poetry across borders, and cultural evenings with music and dance.

Awards galore

KLF 2026 will confer the Kalinga Literary Award, Kalinga Literary Award (International), and Kalinga Literary Award (Youth), along with the Penguin–KLF Book Review Project Awards and Inter School Debate Competition. The festival will also host the launch of the ‘Legislators for Literature’ initiative.

The speakers at the festival include Australian Ambassador Philip Green, Anand Neelakantan, Badri Narayan, Banu Mushtaq, who won the International Booker Prize for Heart Lamp in 2025, Chinmay Hota, Chinmayee Panda, Chirag Thakkar, Chitra Subramaniam, Daisy Rockwell, Deepa Bhasthi, Ileana Citaristi, Mehak Jamal, Prateek Dasgupta, Ranjit Hoskote and others.

Rashmi Ranjan Parida, founder and director, Kalinga Literary Festival, says KLF has always been rooted in Odisha’s civilisational ethos and open to the world. For Ashok Kumar Bal, CEO and patron, the festival brings together voices “that remind us why storytelling remains central to civilisation” at a time of rapid digital change and fractured attention

The festival will be inaugurated by Governor of Odisha, Hari Babu Kambhampati in the presence of a host of distinguished guests and writers.