Shillong , October 9: Booker Prize-winning authors Kiran Desai and Damon Galgut will feature at the sixth edition of the Shillong Literary Festival, scheduled to be held from November 12 to 14 at Ward’s Lake, Shillong.
Desai, winner of the 2006 Booker Prize for The Inheritance of Loss, returns to the literary spotlight following the 2025 Booker Prize shortlist for her latest novel, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. She is also the author of Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard and is known for writing on migration, identity, family and wider social realities.
South African novelist and playwright Damon Galgut, who won the 2021 Booker Prize for The Promise, will also participate in the festival. Galgut has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times and is recognised for his work on history, memory, family and the legacies of apartheid.
The two authors are among the first major names announced for the 2026 edition, with more writers, thought leaders and literary personalities expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Ahead of the festival, the organisers are also holding “First Bloom: Discovering New Writing from the Northeast,” an open call for emerging writers in fiction and narrative non-fiction. Entries will close on October 20, with a total prize pool of ₹75,000 — ₹50,000 for the winner and ₹25,000 for the runner-up.
Three workshops will also be held at the State Convention Centre in Shillong, including a session on career prospects in the book industry by Kanishka Gupta on October 26, a creative writing workshop by Mitra Phukan and Lalnunsanga Ralte later the same day, and a photography workshop titled “Ways of Visual Practice” on November 11.
The sixth Shillong Literary Festival is supported by the Department of Tourism, Government of Meghalaya, and will bring together writers, thinkers and readers while highlighting the literary heritage and storytelling traditions of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo communities alongside national and international narratives.
