Shillong, Oct 9: Shillong Literary Festival 2026 has pulled off a major coup with Booker Prize winners Kiran Desai and Damon Galgut confirmed as headliners for its sixth edition.
Announcing the lineup, the Department of Tourism said the internationally acclaimed novelists will bring two of contemporary literature’s most celebrated voices to Shillong this November. The festival will be held from November 12 to 14 at Ward’s Lake.
Kiran Desai, who won the 2006 Booker for The Inheritance of Loss and was shortlisted again in 2025 for The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, is known for her nuanced take on migration, identity and family. South African novelist and playwright Damon Galgut, winner of the 2021 Booker for The Promise and thrice shortlisted, published his first novel at the age of 17.
Their announcement marks the first major names for Edition VI, with more celebrated authors and thought leaders to be announced in the coming weeks. The festival will celebrate the storytelling traditions of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo communities alongside national and international narratives.
In the run-up to the festival, an open call for emerging writers from the Northeast titled First Bloom: Discovering New Writing from the Northeast is underway, with entries closing October 20 and a prize pool of Rs 75,000. The pre-event lineup also includes workshops on career prospects in the book industry, creative writing and visual practice at the State Convention Centre.
