A global literature festival to take place across Ireland this May

A major literature festival will take place across Ireland next month

Taking place from May 22^nd - 31^st 2026, the festival will travel across four locations - Belfast, Armagh, Dundalk and Dublin - marking the first time JLF has been presented as an all-island, multi-venue event of this scale.

Supported by the Government of Ireland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, JLF Island of Ireland reflects a shared commitment to cultural exchange, dialogue and the role of storytelling in bringing people together. The festival forms part of a landmark three-year partnership to deliver an all-island edition of JLF in Ireland.

Bringing together internationally acclaimed writers, historians, journalists, academics, poets, playwrights, performers, public intellectuals and musicians from across the island of Ireland, India, and beyond, the festival will present a programme of conversations, readings, performances and discussions exploring the ideas shaping contemporary life.

From history, politics and geopolitics to climate change, identity, migration, language and culture, the programme reflects both global perspectives and local realities.

The Belfast programme will engage with themes including climate, crime fiction, partition, history, identity and language, while the Dublin programme will explore questions of history, famine, empire, migration, folklore, politics and cultural memory.

It is supported by the University of Ulster Belfast, and the Market Place Theatre Armagh. Across all locations, the festival will examine shared and intersecting histories, including the legacies of empire and partition, and how these continue to shape societies today.

International speakers will include leading historians, authors and journalists such as William Dalrymple, Jeff Goodell, Shashi Tharoor, Jeet Thayil and Tishani Doshi. They will be joined by some of the most prominent writers and thinkers from the island of Ireland, including Fintan O’Toole, Jan Carson, David McCullagh and Jane Ohlmeyer, among others.

Helen McEntee, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, said: “JLF Island of Ireland is a signature cultural initiative. As an all-island festival,  it provides a unique platform to engage with the ideas, histories and perspectives that the island of Ireland and the Indian subcontinent have in common. It also signals Ireland’s strong commitment to cultural diplomacy, on this island and internationally, and speaks to the power of literature and the arts to build lasting relationships.”

JLF Island of Ireland will remain free and open to all, continuing the festival’s long-standing commitment to accessibility and public engagement. Audiences will have the opportunity to participate in a wide-ranging programme that spans literature, current affairs, poetry, performance and interdisciplinary exchange.

Embodying the spirit and grand arc of its root festival in Jaipur, India, the JLF series has grown into a major international cultural event, attended by thousands each year and featuring some of the world's most significant literary and intellectual voices and gifted performers. JLF International editions now travel across continents with editions in Europe, the UK and the United States, curating spaces for diverse voices, perspectives and meaningful dialogue.

JLF Island of Ireland builds on this legacy, bringing the festival’s established format of open discussion and exchange to a new context. By travelling across the island and connecting audiences in multiple cities and towns, it creates a platform for considered conversations that move across geographies, disciplines and perspectives.

For more information, visit https://jlflitfest.org/ireland.