Kalinga Literary Festival 2026 opened in Bhubaneswar with over 400 participants, global authors, policymakers, and artists across literature, arts, and culture
OdishaPlus Bureau
The Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) 2026 began on January 8 at Mayfair Lagoon, Bhubaneswar, with the organisers announcing the first list of speakers for the four-day event that will conclude on January 11.
According to the organisers, the annual festival is hosting more than 400 participants across five venues, bringing together writers, artists, intellectuals, policymakers, and cultural practitioners from India and abroad.
The first list of speakers includes Booker Prize awardees Deepa Bhasthi, Banu Mushtaq, and Daisy Rockwell, along with noted authors and public figures such as Anand Neelkanthan, Vikas Swarup, Ranjit Hoskote, Divya Dutta, Subroto Bagchi, filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda, Aparajita Sarangi (MP, Bhubaneswar), and Sujit Kumar (MP, Rajya Sabha), among others.
Festival sessions cover a wide spectrum of themes related to literature, the arts, public policy, science, technology, and social issues. Key topics at this year’s edition include fiction, poetry, cinema, sustainability, geopolitics, mental health, artificial intelligence, gender, identity, and translation.
Kalinga Literary Festival CEO Ashok Kumar Bal said the 2026 edition is envisioned as “a landmark event rooted in India’s literary soul yet open to global thought,” adding that the festival underscores the belief that “storytelling is humanity’s most enduring technology.” Festival Co-Director Rashmi Ranjan Parida said the platform encourages dialogue and exchange across disciplines.
Alongside the literary sessions, the organisers have also launched the 10th edition of the Kalinga Art Festival, showcasing works by leading visual artists through curated exhibitions.
