Tracing The History of Mumbai's Oldest & First Literary Festival, Literature Live! Mumbai LitFest 2025

16 years ago, Mumbai got its first literature fest and what a moment it was to have something you can call your own! It was the brainchild of late Anil Dharker.

For him, 'it was absurd that the city did not have a literature festival of its own'. So, he took matters into his own hands, brought people together, inspired new ways of thinking and gave the book lovers of Mumbai a festival.

"The festival was completely Anil Dharker's idea. He single-handedly made it a reality. I was just fortunate to be his Sancho Panza from the early days," says Quasar Thakore Padamsee, festival co-director, has been associated with the festival since its inception.

Since 2010, the LitFest has taken place every year, without a break, and during COVID, it went online as well. Among the names to have dazzled the crowds through the years are Anita Desai, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Sudha Murty, Adil Jussawalla, Amjad Ali Khan, Usha Uthup, Indra Nooyi, Rohini Nilekani, Leander Paes, Pico Iyer and Jane Goodall.

Co-director Amy Fernandes was also involved with the festival from the time Anil announced the idea, but she formally joined Literature Live! Mumbai LitFest in the second year. "I miss having Anil Dharker and Shashi Baliga around. Our festival is a tribute to them."

"We continue with their spirit and example guiding us," adds Quasar.

In the present day, much of life is taking place online. In such a situation, would Mumbai LitFest lose their audience? "It is always difficult to predict the future, but I would hope not," says Quasar. "From what we have observed at our LitFest, audiences are growing each year, despite the constantly articulated belief that people are only accessing content online.

"Everyone keeps sounding the death knell of reading, but over the last few years we’ve seen more writers, more books, and an incredible turnout, all of which point to a community that's very much alive and engaged with literature," he adds.

Visit their website www.litlive.in for the entire schedule, registration process and more details.