The Bookish Travel Trend That's Changing the Way We Experience Top Destinations

"After attending a pop-up version of the JLF in New York last September, I decided to make the trip to India. Stepping onto the sprawling grounds of the Clarks Amer hotel, the festival's home since 2022, I reached for comparisons: Monsoon Wedding meets Coachella? Or maybe a literary Cirque du Soleil? There were seven stages and a five-day calendar of events, all attended by writers, publishers, actors, directors, chefs, politicians, and, well, me."

"Trying to put it into perspective, I sought out Geetanjali Shree, the winner of the 2022 International Booker Prize for her novel Tomb of Sand. She's been attending JLF for years and has seen the festival grow. "It has expanded into what in Hindi is called a sangam, " she explained, "a place where the various rivers meet-the various cultures and languages and dialogues-and something vibrant happens.""

"That feeling of convergence has been central to other "lit fests" that have sprung up elsewhere in the world, too. Take, for example, the Macondo Literary Festival in Nairobi, dreamed up by the Kenyan writer Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, who was frustrated that existing gatherings didn't cater to African writers and members of the diaspora. In 2019, she created her own. "It is a crossroads and meeting ground for many nations and peoples," she told me."

Jaipur Literature Festival began in 2006 on the Diggi Palace lawns and has grown into a large, eclectic multi-day gathering featuring author readings, panel discussions, debuts, and autograph lines. The festival moved to the Clarks Amer hotel in 2022 and now runs multiple stages and a five-day schedule attracting writers, publishers, actors, directors, chefs, politicians, and international visitors. Geetanjali Shree describes the festival as a sangam, a meeting point of cultures, languages, and dialogues that creates vibrant exchanges. Similar literary festivals have emerged worldwide to serve regional needs, including Nairobi's Macondo Festival, created to center African writers and diasporic voices, and Jamaica's Calabash Festival to elevate Caribbean writers.

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