The iconic annual Jaipur Literature Festival, held each year in the fabled Pink City of Jaipur, is the grand dame of international literary festivals. JLF International carries the Festival’s arc, sparkle and spirit across continents: an inspiring literary series spanning America, Britain, and continental Europe.

JLF came to Belfast in 2019, an encounter of rich literary traditions from Northern Ireland and across the world, supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. This year, from 22-31 May, JLF returns to Ireland for one of its most ambitious projects yet: JLF Island of Ireland, a cross-border literary festival supported by the Government of Ireland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Travelling from Belfast to Dublin, stopping in Armagh and Dundalk, JLF Island of Ireland will bring a taste of the world-class Jaipur festival experience to Ireland: colour and spectacle, music and poetry, words and ideas, free and open to all.

For the first time, the JLF caravan will cross a border, connecting North and South, Ireland and India. With its trademark mix of debate, dialogue, music, and the unique power of literature, JLF Island of Ireland will explore what we have in common: the ties between our histories and our people, the legacy of empire and partition, our love of words and performance, and our shared global challenges today.

As the full festival programme is unveiled in the coming weeks, a sneak preview reveals an exciting line-up – international speakers will include world-renowned historians like William Dalrymple and Caroline Elkins, fearless journalists like Roger Cohen and Jeff Goodell, and some of India’s most well known authors like Jeet Thayil and Tishani Doshi. Sharing the Festival stage with them will be a collection of the finest thinkers and writers on the island of Ireland, including David McCullagh, Eoin McNamee, Jane Ohlmeyer, Fintan O’Toole, and Jan Carson.

Most of all, JLF Island of Ireland, an exciting new part of the JLF International family, will be a celebration of pluralism, an invitation – and a challenge – to hear each other’s stories and to see the world, and this island, from another angle.