IAAC Literary Festival 2026
The Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) Literary Festival returns to New York City for two days of conversations, book presentations, poetry, and discussions celebrating Indian and South Asian literature. The 2026 program brings together novelists, historians, journalists, poets, scholars, and cultural commentators whose work explores identity, migration, history, food, and contemporary society.
This year’s lineup includes novelist Manil Suri, whose memoir A Room in Bombay revisits his childhood, family relationships, and experiences growing up gay in India. Suri will discuss the book with WNYC and Gothamist journalist Arun Venugopal. Also appearing is novelist Karan Mahajan, who will discuss The Complex, and chef and food writer Rachel Gurjar, whose cookbook East to East connects her experiences in Mumbai and New York through food.
The festival also features Brinda Charry discussing her historical novel Hocus Pocus, Priya Hajela presenting For Whose Dear Sake Our Fathers Died, and a conversation on India’s development featuring authors Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian. Sessions address publishing, historical fiction, cultural identity, politics, and the creative process.
A special spotlight on Odisha celebrates the region’s literary and cultural traditions, with conversations featuring writer Pratibha Ray and discussions on Odia language and literature. Poetry readings and a publishing-industry panel round out a program that connects established literary voices with emerging writers.
Saturday, November 14
| Time (EST) | Event / Book | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:50 AM | East to East | Rachel Gurjar, Tanya Sichynsky |
| 11:00–11:50 AM | A Room in Bombay | Manil Suri, Arun Venugopal |
| 11:00–11:50 AM | Four Minutes Past Midnight | Sanjay Srivatsa, Virendra Tavathia |
| 12:00–12:50 PM | Kapila Jnanagarbha | Advaitavadini Kaul, Rakesh Kaul |
| 12:00–12:50 PM | Hocus Pocus / For Whose Dear Sake Our Fathers Died | Brinda Charry, Priya Hajela, Manreet Sodhi Someshwar |
| 1:00–2:00 PM | Creator’s Block: Conversation and Meditation | Kiran Merchant, Jagdish Tummala |
| 2:00–2:50 PM | Ellora | Arno Klein, Vishakha Desai |
| 2:00–2:50 PM | No. 10 Doyers Street | Radha Vatsal, Ravi Shankar |
| 3:00–3:50 PM | The Coffee Can Investor | Neeraj Khemlani, Mathew Veedon |
| 3:00–3:50 PM | Hindutva and Hind Swaraj | Makarand Paranjape, Indu Viswanathan |
| 4:00–4:50 PM | Publishers Panel: How to Get Published | Prabhu Guptara, Anjali Singh |
| 4:00–4:50 PM | The Orissan | Sandip Das, Pallavi Das, Barkha Cardoz |
| 5:00–6:50 PM | Poetry Reading: Blue Selvage, My Life Closed Twice and RED | Preeti Parikh, Subhashini Kaligotla, Sudeep Sen, Ravi Shankar |
| 5:00–5:50 PM | My Life, My Time | Pratibha Ray, Bhavani Parameswar |
| 6:00–6:50 PM | History of Odia Literature / Neeladri Vijaya | Prasanta Kumar Bhunya, Adyasha Das, Ranjita Mishra, Deepti Paikray |
Sunday, November 15
| Time (EST) | Event / Book | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 11:00 AM–12:00 PM | The Complex | Karan Mahajan, Yoshita Singh |
| 12:00–1:30 PM | A Sixth of Humanity | Devesh Kapur, Arvind Subramanian, Chip Kaye, C. S. Venkatakrishnan, Sonal Shah |
| 1:30–3:00 PM | WaterFire Day Zero | Rakesh Kaul, Rajendra Singh, Makarand Paranjape |
| 3:30–5:00 PM | Equal to the Task | Kenneth Chenault, Ash Gupta |
