Celebrating books, ideas, and dialogue, the Jaipur Literature Festival — described as “the greatest literary show on Earth” — returns to New York in 2026. A caravan of pre-eminent writers, performers, essayists, commentators, and raconteurs is almost here to take you on a journey to worlds woven by words and ideas. This year’s JLF includes Kai Bird, Sam Dalrymple, Mahmood Mamdani, Susan Goldmark and Nitin Seth. 

The iconic Jaipur Literature Festival, held annually at the Pink City of Jaipur in India’s Rajasthan state, has always believed in the spirit of community and the hope, strength, and vitality that literature gives. Join us for the tenth annual JLF New York, returning to Asia Society to celebrate the cosmopolitan spirit and boundless energy of New York City and bringing forth JLF’s signature camaraderie, the mosaic of ideas, and the enrapturing flow of conversations that continue to make the festival truly incredible!

Schedule

Schedule timings, speakers subject to change. Watch this space for updates. 

3:40 – 4:20 p.m.

Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia

Sam Dalrymple in conversation with Prashant Jha

Shattered Lands by Sam Dalrymple traces five partitions that carved twelve nations, reshaping borders, identities, and lives. Drawing on archival research, memoirs, and eyewitness accounts across multiple languages, this compelling narrative illuminates the wars, migrations, and legacies that forged modern Asia. In conversation with writer Prashant Jha, Sam explores the dramatic unmaking of Britain’s colonial Empire, once spanning from the Red Sea to Southeast Asia.

4:30 – 5:10 p.m.

There Is A Ghost In My Room

Sanjoy K. Roy in Conversation with Sohaila Abdulali

5:20 – 6:00 p.m.

AI: The Modern Double Helix

Nitin Seth, Vinita Gupta and Meredith Broussard in conversation with Roopa Unnikrishnan 

As humans and machines enter a new era of co-intelligence, the challenge is how we can collaborate with it responsibly, creatively, and ethically. This evolving partnership raises profound questions about knowledge, trust, originality, and what remains uniquely human. A panel of experts discuss the possibilities of an innovation that has altered technology and work as we know it.

6:10 – 6:50 p.m.

Slow Poison: Uganda and the Afterlives of Empire

Mahmood Mamdani in conversation with Neeraj Kaushal

7:00 – 7:50 p.m.

American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey

Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark in conversation with Sree Srinivasan

In American Scoundrel, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Kai Bird, with Susan Goldmark, uncovers the extraordinary and unsettling life of Roy Cohn, the ruthless lawyer, fixer, and political operator whose methods and worldview helped shape modern American politics and whose most enduring protégé was Donald Trump. From the fevered anti-communism of the McCarthy era to the boardrooms of New York, the corridors of Washington, and the glittering excess of Studio 54, Cohn emerges as a charismatic, manipulative, and sinister presence. Bird and Goldmark’s meticulous research and gripping storytelling trace the making and unmaking of a man whose divisive influence deeply impacted the workings of the US for years to come.