Jaipur Literature Festival USA / Instagram/ jlfinternational

Jaipur Literature Festival USA will return in 2026 with its largest edition yet, expanding to six U.S. cities with the addition of Los Angeles.

Produced by Teamwork Arts, the expanded edition will travel to North Carolina, Los Angeles, Seattle, Colorado, New York and Houston, bringing together internationally acclaimed writers, historians, journalists, artists, policymakers and changemakers. 

Also Read: Karan Mahajan probes immigrant identity in ‘The Complex'

Organizers said the expansion marks JLF USA's most ambitious edition to date and reflects the festival's continued growth across North America as a platform for conversations on literature, culture, geopolitics, democracy, science, technology, identity, business and the arts.

The festival will begin in North Carolina from Sept. 11-13 before making its Los Angeles debut from Sept. 14-16. It will then travel to Seattle from Sept. 17-20, Colorado on Sept. 22-23, New York on Sept. 29-30 and conclude in Houston from Oct. 2-4.

Speaking during a July 17 virtual curtain-raiser, Teamwork Arts Managing Director Sanjoy Roy said the festival was created to encourage dialogue across cultures and disciplines.

"This is really about creating a platform for discussion, for debate, for dissent... and really uphold the ideas of knowledge, innovation, and everything that will build towards a better world," Roy said.

Roy said the festival was founded in 2006 at Jaipur's Diggi Palace with about 7,000 attendees and has since grown into one of the world's largest literary gatherings, welcoming roughly 400,000 visitors annually while reaching millions more through digital platforms and international editions. 

He said each international chapter is developed with local partners so that every city has its own identity while remaining connected to JLF's larger vision.

Describing the philosophy behind the festival, Roy said the founders wanted to engage younger generations through informed public conversations.

"We wanted something that could attract young people... maybe they will be able to push back against the ignorance that we see around us, and by pushing back on ignorance, perhaps they'll be able to push back on hatred."

Roy said the festival is designed to extend far beyond traditional literary programming, with about 65 percent of its sessions focused on nonfiction, covering subjects ranging from science, mathematics and history to politics, sociology, philosophy, migration, gender and food.

"We need to now pull down the divisions between the arts and the sciences. The arts allow us to think creatively... and the sciences help us with discipline and scientific discovery."

Festival producer Parul Soni said the expansion is aimed at creating lasting cultural engagement rather than simply increasing the festival's geographic reach.

"Our focus is not just reaching more audiences but also on building communities and creating meaningful experiences in every city we go," Soni said.

She said literature remains at the heart of JLF USA, but the experience is enriched through music, visual arts, food and collaborations with local organizations.

"Literature is the heart of the festival... but it's been complemented by music... visual art... food, local collaborations. Together all these elements create the vibrant atmosphere that really makes the festival so special."

Soni added that a traveling visual art exhibition will debut in Los Angeles before continuing to Seattle as part of the festival's programming.

Novelist Karan Mahajan, who will appear in Houston and North Carolina, said the Jaipur Literature Festival had reshaped India's literary landscape.

"It also set off a boom in literary festivals in India. So now, every town in India has a literary festival," Mahajan said.

He said the festival had raised the profile of literary fiction and nonfiction while creating lasting relationships among writers from around the world.

"It has changed the way writers see themselves in India... and has increased the visibility, especially for certain kinds of literary fiction, certain kinds of nonfiction."

Mahajan said he will discuss his latest novel, The Complex, published earlier this year, which follows a large Delhi family in the 1980s while exploring migration, identity and political change.

"It's a novel that's very concerned with the ways in which reactionary thinking takes root in families before it bursts into the national stage," he said.

Drawing on his own experience of moving to the United States for college, Mahajan said the novel also examines the emotional complexities of immigration.

"I found immigration to be a much more nonlinear process where you're going back once a year, you're reconnecting to the place you're from, but it's a discontinuous intimacy."

He added that the story explores "what it means to be connected to a place, not just by love, but also by wounds."

Neurologist and author Pria Anand, who will attend in Seattle and North Carolina, said the festival's interdisciplinary approach closely reflects the themes of her book The Mind Electric, which explores how the brain constructs stories to make sense of the world.

"Our brains really construct the worlds that we move through through stories," Anand said.

She said literature, mythology and science all contribute to a deeper understanding of the human experience.

Calling storytelling fundamental to human life, Anand added,"Stories and art give us life."

Author Alka Joshi said she will discuss Six Days in Bombay, inspired by pioneering Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, whose work she discovered during a visit to Delhi and believes deserves wider global recognition.

"I thought, more of the world should know about her," Joshi said.

She described Sher-Gil as a groundbreaking artist who challenged expectations placed on women in the 1930s and said researching the novel deepened her understanding of India's independence movement and the Anglo-Indian community.

"It was a great lesson in history... and I'm just happy to be part of JLF... where I get to tell people about this extraordinary woman and why she deserves to be in our consciousness, around the world."

Organizers said each city will feature programming tailored to its local community while remaining connected to JLF USA's broader vision of creating spaces where literature, ideas and culture intersect. 

Alongside author conversations, the festival will feature discussions on artificial intelligence, geopolitics, entrepreneurship, history, science, visual arts and culture, reinforcing its mission of connecting global conversations with local audiences.

The complete program, speaker lineup, venue details and registration information for all six cities will be announced in the coming weeks.

Discover more at New India Abroad.