The Shillong Literary Festival 2026 began its New Delhi Prelude on May 8 at Bikaner House, bringing together leading voices from literature, cinema, culture, and the arts.
Organised by the Department of Tourism, Government of Meghalaya, the two-day prelude event serves as a lead-up to the main Shillong Literary Festival scheduled to take place later this year in Meghalaya. The festival aims to expand its national presence while highlighting the Northeast’s growing creative and cultural landscape.
The event features a series of conversations, readings, performances, and discussions around literature, identity, cinema, food, and culture. Conrad K. Sangma will participate in a special conversation with senior journalist Shekhar Gupta on the opening day.
The line-up also includes notable personalities such as Naseeruddin Shah, Shobhaa De, Sanjoy Hazarika, Maharani Priyadarshini Raje Scindia, Patricia Mukhim, Dominic Sangma, Pradip Kurbah, and Pulitzer Prize winner Suparna Sharma, among others.
One of the major highlights of the festival includes “The Elephant and the Tragopan,” where Naseeruddin Shah will read from Beastly Tales from Here and There by Vikram Seth. Other featured sessions include Shillong On A Plate and Once Upon a Time At A Literature Festival.
Artists associated with the Chief Minister’s Meghalaya Grassroots Music Program (CM-MGMP) are also set to perform during the event. Since its launch in 2021 by Conrad K. Sangma along with former Japanese Ambassador Satoshi Suzuki, the Shillong Literary Festival has emerged as a prominent cultural platform in the Northeast, attracting writers, filmmakers, scholars, and thinkers from across India and abroad.
The New Delhi Prelude further reinforces Meghalaya’s growing focus on culture-led tourism, creative industries, and artistic exchange on a national stage.
