JLF Island of Ireland 2026

* Program is subject to change.

The iconic annual Jaipur Literature Festival, held each year in the fabled Pink City of Jaipur, is the grand dame of international literary festivals. JLF International carries the Festival’s arc, sparkle and spirit across continents: an inspiring literary series spanning America, Britain, and continental Europe.

JLF came to Belfast in 2019, an encounter of rich literary traditions from Northern Ireland and across the world, supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. This year, from 22-31 May, JLF returns to Ireland for one of its most ambitious projects yet: JLF Island of Ireland, a cross-border literary festival supported by the Government of Ireland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Travelling from Belfast to Dublin, stopping in Armagh and Dundalk, JLF Island of Ireland will bring a taste of the world-class Jaipur festival experience to Ireland: colour and spectacle, music and poetry, words and ideas, free and open to all.

For the first time, the JLF caravan will cross a border, connecting North and South, Ireland and India. With its trademark mix of debate, dialogue, music, and the unique power of literature, JLF Island of Ireland will explore what we have in common: the ties between our histories and our people, the legacy of empire and partition, our love of words and performance, and our shared global challenges today.

As the full festival programme is unveiled in the coming weeks, a sneak preview reveals an exciting line-up – international speakers will include world-renowned historians like William Dalrymple and Caroline Elkins, fearless journalists like Roger Cohen and Jeff Goodell, and some of India’s most well known authors like Jeet Thayil and Tishani Doshi. Sharing the Festival stage with them will be a collection of the finest thinkers and writers on the island of Ireland, including David McCullagh, Eoin McNamee, Jane Ohlmeyer, Fintan O’Toole, and Jan Carson.

Most of all, JLF Island of Ireland, an exciting new part of the JLF International family, will be a celebration of pluralism, an invitation – and a challenge – to hear each other’s stories and to see the world, and this island, from another angle.

For more details: https://jlflitfest.org/ireland

Info: At Examination Hall, Trinity College

Info: Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Roy Foster in conversation with Manasi Subramaniam, at Examination Hall, Trinity College

Info: Morning Music, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Info: Tishani Doshi in performance, introduced by Claire Power, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Info: Kavita Puri and Padraic X. Scanlan in conversation with Jane Ohlmeyer, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Info: Darina Allen and Romy Gill in conversation with Susan Flavin, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Info: Gopalkrishna Gandhi in conversation with Fintan O'Toole, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Info: Moya Carey and Ali M. Ansari in conversation with William Dalrymple, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Info: Aanchal Malhotra, Caroline Elkins and David McCullagh in conversation with Jane Ohlmeyer, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Info: Nikita Gill and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe in conversation with Vayu Naidu, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Info: Jeet Thayil and Jan Carson in conversation with Manasi Subramaniam, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Info: David McCullagh, Conor Mulvagh, Philip Stephens and Caoimhe Nic Dháibhéid in conversation with Sam McBride, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Info: Fredrik Logevall, Philip Stephens, Ali M. Ansari and Avi Shlaim in conversation with Mary Fitzgerald, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Info: A musical dialogue between ancient Indian & Gaelic Traditions, at St. Patrick's Cathedral

Info: At Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Info: Niamh Campbell and Garrett Carr in conversation with Fintan O'Toole, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Info: Jeff Goodell in conversation with Siddarth Shrikanth, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Info: Fintan O'Toole and Sam McBride in conversation with Cathy Gormley-Heenan, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Info: Ruchir Joshi and Sineád Gleeson in conversation with Manasi Subramaniam, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Info: Fredrik Logevall in conversation with Patrick Geoghegan, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Info: Namita Gokhale and Kelly Fitzgerald in conversation with Vayu Naidu, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Info: William Dalrymple, Caroline Elkins and Anita Anand in conversation, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Info: Jeet Thayil, Nikita Gill, Tishani Doshi and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe in performance , introduced by Claire Power, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Event Venue

Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland

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