JLF Island of Ireland 2026

Teamwork Arts Pvt Ltd

JLF Island of Ireland, is slated for 22 -31 May 2026, supported by the Government of Ireland & Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Trinity College Dublin

<h3>JLF Island of Ireland will travel across the Island, making its first stop in Belfast from 22 - 24 May, followed by Armagh on 26 and 27 May, Dundalk on 28 May, and finally in Dublin from 29 - 31 May.</h3>* Program is subject to change.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.For more details: <a href="https://jlflitfest.org/ireland" title="https://jlflitfest.org/ireland" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://jlflitfest.org/ireland</a>

Friday, 29 May

Opening Address

Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Roy Foster  in conversation with Manasi Subramaniam, at Examination Hall, Trinity College

Yeats, Gandhi and Tagore

   	 Saturday, 30 May

Morning Music, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Morning Music

Jeet Thayil and Jan Carson in conversation with Manasi Subramaniam, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Elsewhere and Far Between

Darina Allen and Romy Gill in conversation with Susan Flavin, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Food, Memory and Culture

David McCullagh, Conor Mulvagh, Philip Stephens and Caoimhe Nic Dháibhéid  in conversation with Sam McBride, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

These Entwined Isles: Past, Present and Future

Gopalkrishna Gandhi in conversation with Fintan O'Toole, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

The Undying Light: India's Futures

Moya Carey and Ali M. Ansari in conversation with William Dalrymple, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Iran: Art, Empire and Legacy

Aanchal Malhotra, Caroline Elkins and David McCullagh in conversation with Jane Ohlmeyer, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Empires Old and New

Nikita Gill and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe in conversation with Vayu Naidu, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College 

Writing the Immortals

Tishani Doshi in performance; followed by a conversation with Claire Power, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Egrets, While War: Poetry in Motion

Kavita Puri and Padraic X. Scanlan in conversation with Jane Ohlmeyer, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College 

Ireland, Bengal and the Politics of Hunger

Fredrik Logevall, Philip Stephens, Ali M. Ansari and Avi Shlaim in conversation with Mary Fitzgerald, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Fractured World

A musical dialogue between ancient Indian & Gaelic Traditions, at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

For the launch of JLF Ireland, a landmark musical collaboration is being proposed that unites the elite artistry across India and Ireland. The project features Aga Khan Music Award winner Soumik Datta on sarod alongside the Fedora Prize-winning composer and pianist Michael Gallen and bodhrán virtuoso Cormac Byrne. This "India-Ireland" power trio represents a world-class cultural bridge, blending Datta’s mastery of the nineteen stringed fretless sarod with the driving folk rhythms of Ireland’s premier percussionist, underscored by cinematic and pulsing, contemporary piano.

Evening Music

   	 Sunday, 31 May

Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Niamh Campbell and Garrett Carr in conversation with Jan Carson, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

The Homes We Cannot Keep

Ruchir Joshi and Sineád Gleeson in conversation with Manasi Subramaniam, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

The Alchemy of Writing

Fintan O'Toole and Sam McBride in conversation with Cathy Gormley-Heenan, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

For and Against a United Ireland

Jeff Goodell in conversation with Siddarth Shrikanth, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Earth at the Edge: Stories from a Warming World

Fredrik Logevall in conversation with Patrick Geoghegan, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

JFK and the American Century

Namita Gokhale, Vayu Naidu and Kelly Fitzgerald in conversation with Manasi Subramaniam, at Robert Emmet Theatre, Trinity College

Come Away o Human Child: Folklore, Folk Tales and Earth Stories

William Dalrymple, Caroline Elkins and Anita Anand in conversation, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Empire Podcast

Jeet Thayil, Nikita Gill, Tishani Doshi and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe in performance , introduced by Claire Power, at Edmund Burke Theatre - Arts Block, Trinity College

Past, or Passing, or to Come: The Poetic Imagination

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JLF Island of Ireland 2026

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