Literary Festival 2026
The Literary Festival of 2024 was a remarkable success: with five events and three desk-based engagements held across three days, the festival witnessed overwhelming participation and energy from students, faculty, and members of the Ahmedabad University community. Building on last year’s momentum and the expectations it has created, The Literary Club is delighted to announce its annual Literary Festival, scheduled for January 21-23, 2026, in collaboration with the University Library System.
This year, our intention is clear: to widen the festival’s reach and relevance — for those who already love literature, for those who believe they don’t, and for the curious who wish to explore, question, and expand their relationship with the written word.
Theme: Into, Across, and Beyond — Litverse
The festival’s theme this year invites participants to traverse literature as a living universe. One that spans time, emotions, imagination, and worlds known and unknown. We explore literature in its genres, divided into past, present and future, based on what time and therefore aesthetics and ambience, that these genres are commonly set in.
Into: The Past, the Roots, the Foundations
This segment explores literary genres set commonly in the past: celebrating the old-fashioned, and the antediluvian, through the monocle of the modern. Into focuses on genres such as fantasy, historical fiction, old-fashioned poetry and folktales. Whether it be the modern retellings of mythological folklore or the archaic, medieval charm of fantasy, we explore how we look back at history, mythology, classics, oral storytelling traditions and ancient texts, that continue to inspire present-day literature. Examples include ancient Indian folktales, Gone with the Wind, A Tale of Two Cities, Babel and the Lord of the Rings.
Across: The Everyday, the Human, the Familiar
Across focuses on storytelling that moves through the spectrum of lived experience and reflects the present of the time it was written, such as slice-of-life narratives rooted in daily rhythms, and writing that reflects our relationships, identities and society. By focusing on genres set commonly in its canonical present (the time when it was written), such as that in mystery, thriller, comedy and romance, throughout time, we try to understand how despite how the world changes, for better or for worse, human connection is a constant shining beacon of light, reflected by literature. This is the literature of observation, introspection, and the monumentality of common-day connection, which reminds us that the profound is often in the ordinary, only for those with the eyes to see it. Examples include: the Sherlock Holmes series, Pride and Prejudice, Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Beyond: The Future, the Unknown, the Possible
Beyond ventures into science fiction, speculative futures, fantasy realms, and imagined societies, exploring what could be, what should be, and what must never be. The moment where authors bring out the fortunetelling crystal ball, divining what life could look like, in the form of a warning or a tale of relentless hope. It is a space to discuss futuristic genres like science fiction, cyberpunk, time-travel, space exploration, utopias and dystopias, and narratives that challenge our understanding of time and reality itself. Examples include: Dune, The Hunger Games, Brave New World.
Events
The Parrot Said – Sanskrit and Persian Narrative Walk
Sanskrit and Persian are two such languages that have a vast array of unexplored literature and resources that are rarely talked about in contemporary discourse. We would like to propose an event that allows students to connect with the languages in the form of two very similar stories found in both the Sanskrit and Persian texts.
The texts we will be exploring are Tutinama, which, translated literally, means "Tales of a Parrot". It is a 14th-century series of 52 stories in Persian. Śukasaptati, or Seventy tales of the Parrot, is a collection of stories originally written in Sanskrit. The stories are supposed to be narrated to a woman by her pet parrot, at the rate of one story every night, to dissuade her from going out to meet her paramour when her husband is away.
We are planning a narrative walk across the University Campus, guided by Professor Aditya Chaturvedi and Professor Ayesha Sheth. The walk will unfold like a story, with participants moving through specific locations as part of the journey. The central theme revolves around “listening to” or “following the parrot”. The entire event will last about an hour and a half. Participants will be limited to 25 people. We hope this walk will help participants regain an interest in these old languages and understand the interconnectedness of these vastly different languages.
Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Time: 2:30 - 4:00 PM IST
Venue: Activity Room 110, University Centre, Central Campus
Odyssey: No Way Home
A dramatic retelling which will bring imagined landscapes, cultures, and conflicts to life, allowing audiences to step beyond reality through voice, movement, and visual storytelling. Many iconic narratives are born from richly crafted worlds, from the bronze battlegrounds of The Iliad, to the shifting seas of The Odyssey, and the shadowy halls of Beowulf. Each of these poems offers a complete universe of its own, and a performance-inspired retelling transforms these ancient tales into vivid experiences shaped by conflict, heroism, and enduring legend.
Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Time: 5:00 - 7:00 PM IST
Venue: Activity Room 110, University Centre, Central Campus
Flash Fiction Contest
Micro-fiction or flash fiction is a type of fiction characterised by being very short, typically consisting of only a few hundred words, which challenges writers to build an entire world within time and word constraints. This event aims to explore this form of fiction in an engaging and fast-paced way.
For the event, participants will write microfiction based on one chosen genre, which would include genres like fantasy, slice of life, thriller, and romantic comedy. Each genre will have specific objects/places and short prompts (of up to 5 words) to spark ideas for the writer. Writers will select a certain genre based on chits and then will receive the corresponding prompts, having to then craft a micro-story within a fixed word limit.
This event encourages students to be creative and engage their storytelling skills in the shortest possible time.
Date: Thursday, January 22, 2026
Time: 5:30 - 7:00 PM IST
Venue: Activity Room 110, University Centre, Central Campus
Interstellar Dungeons & Dragons Event
Ever since the 1980s, and more so with its recent revival in popular culture, the board game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) has captivated the attention and stoked the curiosity of minds young and old. It is a team-based tabletop role-playing game that allows players to assume different character roles and make complex, subjective decisions based on the motivations they embody, all while working together as a single unit. It takes place in a dynamic, open world with diverse, exotic characters and endless possibilities. Players make subjective, qualitative decisions through mutual discussion and agreement with the 'Dungeon Master', a non-player character who controls the game's dynamics, such as the plot, and helps advance the story. The more objective gameplay dynamics, such as the quantitative effects of a character's actions, for instance, the effectiveness of a punch is determined by the roll of the dice. The game pushes players to broaden their creative horizons as they must view different scenarios through different perspectives to create favourable outcomes.
We would like to stage a board game event loosely based on D&D on the third day of our Lit Fest. It will include three teams of roughly five players each, who will be accompanied by a Dungeon Master (a member of the Literary Club). The three teams, along with their respective DMs, will participate in a roughly 1.5-hour game session and will not compete against each other. Each unit will, through mutual discussion, be involved in a different game storyline from the other. In keeping with the general theme of the Third Day of the Fest- Futurism and Dystopia- the theme of the D&D game will also be the same. Players will be assuming the roles of spacefarers in the distant future who must find their way back to their home planets. We believe the game will be an immersive and stimulating experience for anyone who finds the exploration of possibilities unique and exciting, because players will engage with a World that is thematically and aesthetically very different from their own.
Date: Friday, January 23, 2026
Time: 4:00 - 6:00 PM IST
Venue: Activity Room 110, University Centre, Central Campus
Space, Space, Space: Open Mic Night
The event is themed around space, and invites people to showcase writing about space (physically or metaphorically) through the method of an open mic, where people can present their thoughts in the form of poetry, story, spoken word, acts, music, etc. Through this medium of expression, we try to create a safe environment where people have a platform to exhibit their writing, which for some people might be a place where they feel most comfortable, while for others it might be a futuristic land full of opportunities. Along with the open mic, we also plan to have other modes to engage the audience on this topic, using softboards and minigames where people can express themselves.
Date: Friday, January 23, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM IST
Venue: Amphitheatre, Central Campus
Desk Events
In lieu of last year’s success and participation for the desk events in the literary festival, this year too, we aim to keep 3 desk events. These desks will be set up in different locations across the campus and will continue for all 3 days of the festival from 10 am to 5 pm. These desk events aim to create interaction and fun games for students passing by, giving them an opportunity to engage in activities designed to evoke the true essence of literature.
A Letter to Your Favourite Character
Literary characters often stay with us long after we finish reading their stories—shaping the way we think, feel, and understand the world. “A Letter to Your Favourite Character” is a creative and reflective event designed to allow participants to communicate with the characters who have influenced them the most.
Through this event, we aim to create a space where readers can engage imaginatively with their chosen characters—whether from novels, plays, comics, or mythology—by writing heartfelt, humorous, critical, or thoughtful letters addressed to them.
This event encourages personal expression, emotional engagement, and literary appreciation. Participants may choose protagonists, antagonists, side characters, or even abstract personifications from any genre. Through guided prompts and creative exercises, this event fosters meaningful interaction between readers and the fictional worlds they love.
Date: Wednesday-Friday, January 21-23, 2026
Time: 11:00 - 5:30 PM IST
Venue: Opposite School of Arts and Sciences, Central Campus
Literary Family Feud
In recent years, interactive quiz formats and survey-based games have become increasingly popular, engaging participants through collective opinion, fast thinking, and playful competition. These events blend community insight with gameplay, allowing players to guess, debate, and uncover what their peers truly think. Building on this growing trend, we hope to introduce a fresh, engaging desk event for this semester’s Lit Fest.
We propose a Family Feud–style literary showdown based on a campus-wide survey that collects responses to fun and thought-provoking questions about literary characters. In the days leading up to the event, we will conduct a survey across campus, asking students to respond to prompts like “Which literary character is most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse?” or “Who would make the best roommate?” The aim is to gather the collective voice of our student community and turn it into the foundation of a lively and humorous game.
During the Lit Fest, participants will compete in teams as they attempt to guess the most popular answers collected from the survey. This event invites players to draw not only on their literary knowledge but also on their intuition about campus culture, humour, and shared reading experiences. The game will combine quick recall, creative reasoning, and spirited teamwork, offering an accessible and entertaining opportunity for students from all academic backgrounds.
Through this concept, we aim to create a lighthearted yet intellectually stimulating activity that celebrates literature in a communal way. Instead of solving puzzles or escaping rooms, participants will dive into the collective imagination of the student body, discovering how their peers perceive beloved heroes, notorious villains, and unforgettable characters across genres. With energetic rounds, surprising answers, and room for laughter, debate, and engagement, we hope this event becomes a memorable addition to the festival— one that blends literary appreciation with community spirit and friendly fun.
Date: Wednesday-Friday, January 21-23, 2026
Time: 11:00 - 5:30 PM IST
Venue: Opposite Cafeteria, University Centre, Central Campus
Blind Book Date
Giving a new twist to buying/gifting books by adding an element of mystery. Wrapping the books with clues on the top will entice people to explore different genres and expand their knowledge and reach of literature. We also hope to expand the reach of literature as a whole. Alongside achieving all of this, we hope to help reading enthusiasts by solving the question of “what to read next?”
Date: Wednesday-Friday, January 21-23, 2026
Time: 11:00 - 5:30 PM IST
Venue: Opposite Cafeteria, University Centre, Central Campus
