The curious thing about festivals is they mirror the societies that create them. The Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF), now entering its 15th year, is one such mirror. From January 24 to 26, 2025, Sattava Knowledge City and T-Hubwill transform into epicentres of creativity and dialogue for HLF 2025.
With over 200 speakers and an estimated 80,000 attendees, HLF will be a sprawling symposium that unites authors, artists, academics and visionaries from around the world. It is, in many ways, a festival that explores the fundamental human need to tell stories.
The litfest will also pose questions that go beyond literature: What does it mean to preserve endangered languages? How do science and storytelling intersect? And, perhaps most crucially, how does a festival in Hyderabad encapsulate the world?
Personalities Shaping HLF 2025
Expect an eclectic lineup of speakers. Special guest Shabana Azmiwill celebrate her 50th year in cinema with a conversation that promises to weave together her journey as an artist and her role as a cultural icon. Joining her are luminaries like actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar, journalist Rajdeep Sardesaiand peace worker Harsh Mander, whose sessions promise to traverse topics as varied as cinema, journalism, and social justice.
The festival’s literary core is bolstered by authors like Ruthvika Raoand Nishanth Injam, Telugu writers whose works resonate far beyond the boundaries of their linguistic heritage. With Rajmohan Gandhi, Siddharth, and performers like Adishakti Theatreand Advaitaadding their voices, HLF 2025 offers a variety of perspectives.
What’s New And What’s Enduring
Every year, HLF reinvents itself while staying true to its roots. In 2024, the festival introduced three new streams: Indigenous and Endangered Languages, Climate Conversations, and Science and the City. These streams return this year, enriched by fresh ideas and urgent questions.
Indigenous and Endangered Languages
Imagine a world where half of the languages spoken today vanish by the turn of the century. This sobering possibility is at the core of the Indigenous and Endangered Languages (IEL) stream. Featuring poets, storytellers, and researchers like Dr. Mahendra Kumar Mishraand Dr. Sujoy Sarkar, the stream aims to preserve linguistic diversity while celebrating its creative potential. From panel discussions to performances by collectives like Relaa, IEL is a call to document, cherish and sustain the voices that shape our cultural fabric.