The Story
OrganizerKLF was founded in 2013 with the intention of giving Odisha a literary festival that matched the state's extraordinary cultural and intellectual heritage. Odisha is home to one of India's oldest and most distinctive literary traditions, Odia literature is among the oldest literary languages in India, and the state's cultural landscape, from the Jagannath temple tradition to the Puri School of painting and the Chhau dance forms, is rich and complex. KLF has positioned Odisha on India's literary festival map and, through its international editions in Kathmandu, Colombo, Bali, and Bhutan, has become a model for regional literary festivals that aspire to global reach. The 12th edition's Booker Prize lineup, including Deepa Bhasthi, translator of Banu Mushtaq and winner of the International Booker, reflects programming that is genuinely international rather than merely nationally focused.
KLF is the most significant cultural platform for Odia literary and intellectual life on a national stage. Odisha's cultural traditions receive less national media attention than they deserve, and KLF's 400+ speaker, 100+ session format gives Odia culture a platform that matches what JLF does for Rajasthan. The co-location with the Kalinga Art Festival also creates a genuinely multidisciplinary gathering.
Visit the Kalinga Literary Festival in Bhubaneswar to engage with writers, thinkers and poets in one of eastern India's foremost gatherings of ideas. With a strong focus on Odia and Indian-language literature alongside English, it foregrounds regional voices often marginalised at bigger festivals, and its debates on literature, society and culture make it a vital forum for the intellectual life of Odisha and the east.
