November’s bright, blue skies and crisp, clean air herald the arrival of Mumbai’s international literary festival. Presented by Godrej Industries Group, Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest will return for its 16th edition at its home in NCPA at Nariman Point from 7 to 9 November 2025. Over 100 writers, speakers, thinkers and performers from more than 10 countries will offer a multitude of voices, stories, and viewpoints across genders, communities and languages, to reflect the festival’s hallmark attributes of inclusivity and innovation.
The three-day festival promises to captivate visitors and audiences with fresh perspectives at sessions across a range of subjects such as fiction, poetry, health, history, business, science, philosophy, and the city of Mumbai.
This year’s line-up includes Anindita Ghose, Ashok Alexander, Ashok Vajpeyi, Atul Dodiya, Christian Stöcker, Dhananjay Chandrachud, Faye D’Souza, Jeet Thayil, Jerry Pinto, Jimmy Wales, Lillete Dubey, Luke Coutinho, Omar Musa, Paromita Vohra, Roopa Kudva, Sam Dalrymple, Shabnam Minwalla, Shashi Tharoor, Shehan Karunatilaka, Shireen Bhan, Shobhaa De, Shubhangi Swarup, Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Soha Ali Khan, Swati Pandey, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Yang Shuang-zi.
The mainstays of the festival – the Lifetime Achievement, Poet Laureate, and Literary Awards; the Great Debate, Book in Focus, gripping indoor and outdoor performances, book launches, daily workshops and campus outreaches for college students – will continue to feature.
The Little Festival for children, in collaboration with the H T Parekh Foundation, will be held in parallel on 7-8 November, with sessions, activities and performances specially curated for children, at which the Binod Kanoria Awards for Children’s Literature will also be announced.
Looking forward to November, festival co-director Amy Fernandes said, “Each year since 2009, the festival has shaped itself into an ever-evolving and exciting entity that the city has come to love. We, the Literature Live! team, are honored to play a role in continuing the legacy that our founder Anil Dharker created for Mumbaikars: a feast for the mind and soul. In its 16th year, the story only gets stronger”.
Quasar Thakore Padamsee, festival co-director, said, “Engaging with contrasting thoughts and writing – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama – from around the world is more crucial than ever today. The 16th edition of the Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest will do just that. I have been associated with this festival since its inception, and it is a privilege to have seen it grow into the veritable city institution that it is today. Over the years, we have hosted a series of incredible literary events, and this year promises to reflect the same love and zest for words in manifold forms.”
Nadir Godrej, chairman and managing director Godrej Industries Group, said, “Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest is a unique achievement – a Mumbai home-grown world-class international literary festival which has stood the test of time and received universal appreciation for fifteen years. Godrej Industries is very pleased to be supporting this splendid festival as it embarks on its sixteenth year of presenting three enriching days for Mumbai.”
Some past participants: A C Grayling, Adil Jussawalla, Alexander McCall Smith, Anita Desai, Amitabh Bachchan, Amitav Ghosh, Amy Tan, Anthony Horowitz, Arundhati Subramaniam Christophe Jaffrelot, David Baldacci, Farrukh Dhondy, Geetanjali Shree, Germaine Greer, Gulzar, Ila Arun, Irwin Allan Sealy, Indra Nooyi, Huma Qureshi, Jane Goodall, Javed Akhtar, L Subramaniam, Mahesh Elkunchwar, Marcus du Sautoy, Margaret Drabble, Marlon James, Miriam Margolyes, Neena Gupta, Nick Hornby, Pico Iyer, Raghuram Rajan, Ramachandra Guha, Roger Penrose, Ruskin Bond, Salman Rushdie, Shashi Tharoor, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Steven Pinker, Subhash Ghai, Sudha Murty.
