Kashmir Literature Festival 2025: India’s Literary Journey Finds a Home in the Valley
Scheduled for October 11th and 12th, 2025, at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre
Kashmir Literature Festival 2025: India’s Literary Journey Finds a Home in the Valley
By: Naira Manzoor
India’s love affair with literature has never been confined to the pages of books. It spills into courtyards, classrooms, coffee houses, and increasingly into vibrant festivals that bring together writers, readers, and dreamers. From Jaipur to Kolkata, Bengaluru to Goa, literary festivals across the country have become the cultural heartbeat of a nation that thrives on stories. In this growing constellation, the Kashmir Literature Festival stands out, not just because of its breathtaking setting in Srinagar, but because it represents India’s most northerly stage for dialogue, diversity, and discovery.
Scheduled for October 11th and 12th, 2025, at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre, the festival is preparing to welcome voices from across India and the world. Its debut edition, held in December 2024, was hailed as a much-needed intellectual homecoming for the Valley. The second edition promises to be bigger, stronger, and more ambitious, with a clear vision: to establish Kashmir not only as a host but as a powerhouse of wisdom, connecting India’s literary soul to a global audience.
While rooted in Kashmir, the festival is not a regional showcase. It is deliberately designed as a national platform that mirrors the scale and diversity of India’s literary energy. Just as Jaipur became synonymous with India’s global literary ambitions, Srinagar too is emerging as a cultural node where the country’s stories, ideas, and identities can find new expression. In doing so, the festival joins a prestigious league of Indian literary events, each city adding its own flavour to the national narrative. What Jaipur brings in grandeur, and Kolkata in history, Kashmir contributes through its poetic mysticism and civilisational depth. This positioning ensures that the festival is not seen as an isolated event of the Valley, but as an integral part of India’s literary map.
At its heart, the festival is for the youth. The organisers firmly believe that literature must not remain locked in libraries or lecture halls. It must flow freely, like India’s great rivers – nurturing, abundant, and open to all. The festival is envisioned as a space where young Indians can engage with new ideas, test perspectives, and cultivate the courage to think differently. Panel discussions, workshops, poetry recitals, book launches, and interactive dialogues will be designed to invite youth participation. The idea is to create not just an audience, but a generation of active contributors to India’s intellectual future. In this sense, the festival echoes the democratic spirit of literature – open, inclusive, and participatory.
Kashmir’s literary tradition is not separate from India’s cultural journey, it is deeply interwoven. From the mystic verses of Lal Ded, whose poetry continues to inspire seekers across the subcontinent, to the songs of Habba Khatoon, who turned personal grief into lyrical universality, the Valley has always been a vital thread in India’s fabric of thought. By hosting a festival of this scale, Kashmir does not merely showcase its own voices. It reclaims a legacy of intellectual leadership that has always belonged to the Valley, and situates it within the larger Indian and global context. In doing so, it reminds us that Kashmir is not only about scenic beauty, it is about centuries of wisdom, dialogue, and imagination.
The festival also positions itself as a dialogue between India and the world. Writers, poets, and thinkers from diverse geographies will find in Srinagar a unique meeting ground, where conversations transcend borders. Literature, after all, has always been India’s soft power – an enduring bridge that connects people beyond politics and policies. The symbolism is powerful. Hosting such a festival in Kashmir signals India’s confidence in its cultural diplomacy. It reaffirms that the Valley, once known as the cradle of Sufism and learning, can once again become a stage where global ideas converge with Indian traditions.
Naturally, poetry remains at the heart of this endeavour. No festival in Kashmir can ignore the lyrical pulse that runs through its history. As anticipation builds, verses echo the essence of what the event seeks to create:
“On Dal’s quiet waters, words shall sail,
Under Zabarwan’s gaze, stories unveil.
From Habba’s songs to Lal Ded’s lore,
India’s voice shall echo once more.”
This is not just about nostalgia. It is about recognising poetry as a living force in India’s cultural landscape – one that continues to inspire activism, empathy, and imagination.
Ultimately, the Kashmir Literature Festival is more than an event. It is a movement of minds. From its first edition in 2024 to its return in 2025, it has steadily grown as a platform that brings together identity, culture, and creativity. It does not merely celebrate books – it celebrates the spirit of inquiry that has defined India’s civilisation for millennia. For Srinagar, it is a homecoming. For India, it is an affirmation. And for the world, it is an invitation.
The Kashmir Literature Festival 2025 is an Indian festival with a global voice. It belongs as much to a reader in Delhi or Chennai as it does to a poet in Srinagar. It is a reminder that stories know no boundaries, and that imagination, when nurtured, can unite a nation as diverse as India. On October 11th and 12th, as the Dal Lake reflects the autumn skies and the Zabarwan mountains stand witness, Srinagar will not only host a festival – it will host a dialogue between past and present, India and the world, hope and imagination.
The organisers extend an open invitation to writers, readers, artists, academics, and above all, young dreamers from every part of India. To join, to listen, to question, and to contribute. Because in the end, the Kashmir Literature Festival is not just Kashmir’s story. It is India’s story and through India, the world’s.
To know more, participate, or contribute, visit www.kashmirliteraturefestival.com or write to contact@kashmirliteraturefestival.com.
