Fourth Kathmandu Kalinga Literary Festival 2026 to Celebrate India-Nepal Civilisational Connect and South Asian Literary Imagination

The festival will be graced by Rt. Hon’ble Sushila Karki, former Chief Justice of Nepal and former Interim Prime Minister of Nepal, as the Chief Guest. Her presence adds special significance to Kathmandu KLF 2026, symbolising Nepal’s democratic journey, constitutional wisdom, judicial integrity, and the rising leadership of women in South Asia.

The central theme of the 2026 edition is “Beyond Borders: South Asian Literature in a Changing World.” The festival will explore how literature, culture, art, memory, spirituality, public thought, and creative imagination can help build a more connected and compassionate South Asia.

Organised by the Kalinga Literary Festival, in association with Yashaswi Pragyan Pratishthan, Kathmandu KLF has emerged as an important platform for strengthening people-to-people ties between India and Nepal. Since 2022, the Kathmandu edition has created a meaningful space for writers, thinkers, artists, translators, filmmakers, poets, musicians, scholars, diplomats, and public intellectuals to engage in dialogue across borders.

For Indian media and public discourse, Kathmandu KLF 2026 carries a special significance. At a time when India is seeking deeper cultural, educational, and civilisational engagement with its neighbours, KLF is contributing in its own humble way to the idea of a connected South Asia. The festival builds on the ancient and living bonds between India and Nepal through literature, language, spirituality, pilgrimage, shared sacred geographies, music, cinema, translation, and collective memory.

This year, participants and guests are also expected from Dubai and London, adding a wider global South Asian dimension to the festival and reinforcing Kathmandu’s growing presence as a literary and cultural hub for the South Asian diaspora.

Speaking about the festival, Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Founder, Director and Curator of the Kalinga Literary Festival, said, “Kathmandu Kalinga Literary Festival is a celebration of literature, culture, music, poetry, cinema, and civilisational friendship. Through this platform, we hope to further strengthen the long-standing literary and cultural ties between Nepal, India, and South Asia, while also opening new spaces for dialogue with the world.”

Ranjana Niraula, Director of Kathmandu Kalinga Literary Festival, said, “The 2026 theme reflects the growing importance of South Asian literature and cultural traditions in shaping global conversations around identity, memory, inclusion, spirituality, environment, and social change. Kathmandu KLF is committed to nurturing this shared cultural space with humility and vision.”

The festival will witness the participation of many eminent personalities, including Ila Arun, Dr. Pratibha Ray, Acharya Prashant, Piyush Mishra, Raj Shekhar, Malini Awasthi, Vikas Swarup, Dr. Kuladhar Saikia, Upendra Nath Behera, Anant Vijay, Satish Padmanabhan, Yatindra Mishra, Yunus Khan, Prof. Abhi Subedi, Prof. Dr. Beena Poudyal, Prof. Jatindra Kumar Nayak, Prof. Badri Narayan, Neena Verma, Biswajit Dasgupta, Neelanjana Paul, Chandrasekhar Hota, Tulasi Diwas, Prof. Adyasa Das, Jyotiska Ganguly, Archana Singh, Pallavi Rebbapragada, Prof. Kamala Kanta Dash, and several leading authors, scholars, artists, poets, journalists, musicians, cultural thinkers, and public figures from Nepal, India, South Asia, and beyond.

The two-day festival will feature conversations, panel discussions, poetry readings, musical performances, book discussions, cultural sessions, and dialogues on translation and civilisational relations. The festival themes will cover South Asian literature and shared futures, India–Nepal literary dialogue, translation and cultural imagination, sacred landscapes and pilgrimage traditions, diplomacy and storytelling, women’s writing and power, spirituality in the age of anxiety and algorithms, public service and literary imagination, history, media and public memory, climate and community futures, finance education and capability, ancient wisdom and modern strategy, cinema and popular culture, music and poetry, ghazal, humour, satire, tourism, and the Himalayan experience.

The festival will give special attention to India–Nepal civilisational connections. It will celebrate the shared cultural worlds of the Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal, the memory of pilgrimage routes, the literary flow between languages, and the spiritual imagination that has connected communities across borders for centuries. In doing so, Kathmandu KLF 2026 will underline that South Asia is not merely a geography; it is a living civilisational conversation.

The Kathmandu edition is part of the larger Kalinga Literary Festival ecosystem, which includes the flagship Kalinga Literary Festival in Bhubaneswar, KLF Book Awards, Kalinga Literary Festival Indraprastha, and Mystic Kalinga Festival. Through these platforms, KLF has consistently worked to bring Indian literature, regional languages, South Asian cultures, and civilisational dialogue into national and global conversations.

Kathmandu KLF 2026 will be a space of humility, friendship, imagination, and hope. It will celebrate the past, engage with the present, and look forward to a more connected, creative, compassionate, and culturally confident South Asia.

About Kalinga Literary Festival

Kalinga Literary Festival, based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, is one of India’s leading literary and cultural festivals. Since its inception, KLF has worked to celebrate literature, language, art, culture, spirituality, public ideas, and civilisational dialogue. The Kathmandu edition, launched in 2022, is part of KLF’s continuing commitment to strengthening India’s cultural connections with neighbouring countries and building literary bridges across South Asia.

For media enquiries:
Kalinga Literary Festival
Kathmandu Kalinga Literary Festival 2026
Hotel Himalaya, Kathmandu
June 6–7, 2026

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