New Delhi: Fourteen authors from as many European countries come together in New Delhi for the Long Night of LiteratureS, a literary festival that has grown into one of the most distinctive cultural and literary encounters between Europe and India. Organized by the EU National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) on 21 November 2025 at the India Habitat Centre, the festival celebrates the richness of European writing while nurturing cross-cultural dialogue through the shared experience of reading, listening, and imagining.
At the festival, audiences are invited to immerse themselves in a night where literature transcends
the page. Throughout the evening, authors will transform their texts into live encounters, readings that shift into performance, conversations that open unexpected doors, moments shaped by discovery, emotion, and exchange. Each writer brings a distinct voice, language, and sensibility, together creating a kaleidoscope of contemporary Europe. In a unique literary speed-dating format, as one moves from room to room, they will encounter stories that draw on the deepest currents of today’s world: the pull of memory, the play of mythology, the complexity of identity, the experience of migration, the echoes of spiritual questioning, and the subtle borders, visible and invisible, that shape modern lives. From fiction and poetry to autofiction, hybrid forms, performance writing, and translation, the festival offers an evening in which literature steps off the page and becomes lived experience.
Mr. Andrea Anastasio, Head of the Istituto Italiano di Cultural New Delhi and President of EUNIC Delhi, comments on the line-up for this year’s edition: “The selection of authors reflects the full breadth
of Europe today, voices from north to south, east to west, critically acclaimed writers alongside emerging voices that are reshaping the literary landscape with bold perspectives. Together, they embody the avant-garde spirit that defines contemporary European literature. It is a privilege to bring this constellation of talent to India, and to share with Indian readers the energy, experimentation, and depth that make Europe’s literary scene so vibrant.”
The festival started in 2010 with the Goethe-Institut and Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council and soon expanded to include many more European countries. The festival also expanded geographically, with editions of the festival in Varanasi and Kolkata, giving authors the chance to encounter diverse Indian audiences and expand their horizons. This year celebrates the fifteenth edition and kickstarts a collaboration with the Indian Habitat Centre, bringing the festival to the heart of Delhi’s cultural scene.
Reflecting on the significance of this edition, Ms. Patricia Loison, Director of Alliance française Delhi
and Vice-President of EUNIC Delhi, said: “Marking fifteen years is already a powerful moment, but moving the festival to the India Habitat Centre adds a new symbolic dimension. IHC is one of Delhi’s most vibrant cultural spaces, a crossroads of ideas and communities. Bringing the Long Night of LiteratureS here affirms our commitment to deepening the dialogue between Europe and India, not only through books, but through shared spaces, shared experiences, and shared imagination.”
The public leg of the festival scheduled for Friday, November 21st at 7PM at the India Habitat Centre, is preceded by a Literary Forum organized in partnership with Oxford Bookstore at the Czech Embassy
on Thursday, November 20th at 5PM. The theme for this year’s forum is ‘The Global Writer: Navigating Local Identity and Universal Themes’ and brings together authors, translators and publishers from Europe and India to explore the rich tapestry of literary connections between the two regions.
The line-up of authors for the 2025 edition of the festival includes : Markus Köhle (Austria) ; Todor
P. Todorov (Bulgaria); Fine Gråbøl (Denmark) ; Monia Aljalis (France); Jackie Thomae (Germany) ; Ferenc Barnás (Hungary); Clara Nubile (Italy); Piotr Florczyk (Poland); Isabela Figueiredo (Portugal) ; Andrej Blatnik (Slovenia); Marcos Giralt Torrente (Spain); Anaïs Clerc (Switzerland); Jurij Zavadsky (Ukraine); and Gail McConnell (the United Kingdom).