Literature Live scheduled to open on 7 November
November’s bright, blue skies and crisp, clean air herald the arrival of Mumbai’s only international literary festival. Presented by Godrej Industries Group, Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest will return for its 16th edition at its home in NCPA at Nariman Point from 7 to 9 November 2025.
22 Oct 2025 | 858 Views | By Rahul Kumar
Over 100 celebrated writers, speakers, thinkers and performers from more than 10 countries will offer a multitude of voices, stories, and viewpoints across genders, communities and languages, to reflect the festival’s hallmark attributes of inclusivity and innovation.
The three-day festival promises to captivate visitors and audiences with fresh perspectives at stimulating sessions across a range of subjects such as fiction, poetry, health, history, business, science, philosophy, and as always, our precious city of Mumbai.
This year’s line-up includes Anindita Ghose, Ashok Alexander, Ashok Vajpeyi, Atul Dodiya, Christian Stöcker, Dhananjay Chandrachud, Faye D’Souza, Jeet Thayil, Jerry Pinto, Jimmy Wales, Lillete Dubey, Luke Coutinho, Omar Musa, Paromita Vohra, Roopa Kudva, Sam Dalrymple, Shabnam Minwalla, Shashi Tharoor, Shehan Karunatilaka, Shireen Bhan, Shobhaa De, Shubhangi Swarup, Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Soha Ali Khan, Swati Pandey, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Yang Shuang-zi.
The mainstays of the festival - the prestigious Lifetime Achievement, Poet Laureate, and Literary Awards; the Great Debate, Book in Focus, gripping indoor and outdoor performances, book launches, daily workshops and campus outreaches for college students - will continue to feature.
Popular and enchanting, The Little Festival for children, in collaboration with the HT Parekh Foundation, will be held in parallel on 7-8 November, with sessions, activities and performances specially curated for children, at which the Binod Kanoria Awards for Children’s Literature will also be announced.
Looking forward to November, festival co-director Amy Fernandes said: “Each year since 2009, the festival has shaped itself into an ever-evolving and exciting entity that the city has come to love. We, the Literature Live! team, are honoured to play a role in continuing the legacy that our founder Anil Dharker created for Mumbaikars: a marvellous feast for the mind and soul. In its 16th year, the story only gets stronger.”