11th GLF Registration

About Us

THE STORY OF GLF

In February 2013, a group of friends — journalists, entrepreneurs and literary enthusiasts — came together with a shared concern: Gujarati language and literature were losing their sheen. Around 2010, over 60% of students who appeared in Class X (SSC) examinations in Gujarat failed in Gujarati — their own mother tongue. Quality writing and editing in Gujarati was paying less. The number of new Gujarati titles was shrinking. The writing was on the wall.

These friends were inspired by the Jaipur Literature Festival, but decided on a very different path. Rather than another English-book-centric event, they would create something that actively popularised Gujarati language, literature and culture — in a way that was cool, contemporary and inclusive. Unlike other literature festivals focused on book writers or wedded to promoting a certain medium, GLF was born as a medium and genre-neutral festival.

Committed to inclusivity from day one, they decided GLF would never exclude anyone — on grounds of language, genre or background. One of their hallmark early decisions was to financially pay every writer and literary artist who participated. Until then, many emerging writers even had to pay for a stage. GLF reversed this entirely.

With nearly empty pockets and strong conviction, the first GLF was born in January 2014 as the ‘Gujarati Literature Festival’. It was a three-day event — morning to evening — hosting 150+ writers before a crowd that was over 50% under 30 years old. Some events were webcast live, attracting 7,500+ viewers from the US, UK and Australia.

The following year, the festival was renamed ‘Gujarat Literature Festival’ — an acknowledgement that it welcomed all languages and forms. The commitment to Gujarati remained its beating heart. GLF expanded the definition of literature beyond the printed word to include films, web series, theatre, music, journalism, social media and digital content.

Over ten editions across two cities and thirteen venues, GLF has grown from a scrappy passion project into a movement. It has influenced education policy, inspired scores of new writers, produced two generations of GLF-trained literary professionals, and made a measurable difference to how Gujarati is regarded, read and written.

WHY GLF MATTERS

Gujarat — with a population comparable to Britain — held its very first literature festival only in 2014. Britain hosts over 350 litfests every year. That gap is the reason GLF exists.

The Thought Behind It

  •  We need to protect and conserve our linguistic, literary and cultural identities — more so in a globalised world.
  • Free thought and expression are pillars of a resilient society. GLF is not just a three-day entertainment event — it is a movement to re-ignite youth interest in reading, writing and cerebral pursuits.
  • Pursuit of literary activities ought to be aspirational and financially rewarding. Creating readers leads to opportunities for more writers — GLF works to inspire passionate readers.
  • GLF is re-introducing reading and writing as cultural pursuits in a society now known mainly for entrepreneurial and wealth-creation pursuits.
  • GLF aims to create an ecosystem favourable for the creation of a universally appealing literary heritage — one that represents and defines its milieu.

GLF Firsts

  • First literature festival in Gujarat — in 2014.
  • First lit-fest in India to pay all Gujarati writers and artists for participation — when others often made writers pay to get a stage.
  • First to lobby and successfully get Gujarati made a compulsory language in all Gujarat schools (2018 Assembly resolution).
  • First festival to introduce InkTank — a structured pitch platform connecting authors with publishers and producers.
  • Only lit-fest in India with an exclusive, ongoing partnership with the Screenwriters Association of India (SWA).

IMPACT

Cultural & Literary Impact

  • GLF has inspired at least a dozen literary events across the state and scores of college-level events — all modelled on the GLF format of open, lively debate.
  • Dozens of young Gujarati writers trace their inspiration and first publishing opportunities directly to GLF participation. Several now have multiple published books.
  • GLF has given platforms to writers from non-urban and rural regions of Gujarat, mainstreaming talent that would otherwise have remained invisible.
  • GLF set the precedent for paying speakers at literary events — normalising financial dignity for creative professionals across the ecosystem.
  • GLF’s combination of all mediums, multiple languages and cerebral content is unmatched by any comparable literary event in India.

Social Impact on Youth

  • GLF has bolstered the confidence of young people to speak, write and build careers in Gujarati — dozens have now chosen it as a professional path.
  • Nearly 70% of GLF’s audience is under 35, making it the only major lit-fest in India genuinely targeting young readers and writers.
  • GLF’s ambience, programming and celebrity presence have made Gujarati language ‘cool’ for a generation that was drifting toward English.

Comparing to the Landscape

  • India hosts approximately 70–75 literature festivals of varying sizes, formats and types. The vast majority are focused on English books and their writers. Most are organised by literary bodies (Parishads, Akademis) and lean scholarly and inward-looking.
  • Almost none focus on regional literature.
  • Popular literary forms — Plays, TV serials, Web Series, Films, Digital and Social Media — are given a miss by most.
  • Most do not pay their speakers, especially emerging talent.
  • GLF’s scope of cerebral content, multilingual programming and audience inclusion across different spectrums is unparalleled.