Literary Festivals are a chance for you to explore the works of prominent and emerging writers, while showcasing your work in an environment geared towards community, collaboration, growth and network building. Here are a few regional options that you can get involved in. Don’t worry, we’ve linked to all their pages so you can explore and learn more on your own time!
Calabash International Literary Festival
May 26th-28th 2023
Three-day Festival in Jamaica that occurs every other year. The festival was founded in 2001 by Colin Channer and features readings, music, and other forms of storytelling. All festival events are free and open to the public.
April 28th-30th 2023
This annual literary festival in Trinidad and Tobago was named one of the world’s best literary festivals. The festival is a celebration of books and writers and also includes activities for young readers. Most events are free and open to the public.
Virgin Islands Literary Festival
April 13th-16th 2023
The Virgin Islands Literary Festival and Book Fair offers online and In-person events. This year the festival partnered with The Caribbean Writer.
April 5th 2022
This festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico features a program of literary activities around the awarding of the Cervantes Prize
The Blue Flamingo Literary Festival
March 23rd-24th 2018
A three-day literary festival at University of The Bahamas at the Oakes Field Campus. The festival highlights Bahamian cultural arts through music, dance, film, open mics, and food.
Havana International Book Fair
Feb 3rd-10th 2023
This 10-day literary festival in Havana City consists of book vendors, poetry readings, and art exhibitions. Concerts, children’s activities, and other cultural events. This is the oldest literary festival in the Caribbean!
Alliouagna Festival of the Word
November 17th-19th 2022
This festival is located in Montserrat. Cultural Centre, Little Bay. It features lecture series, open mics, poetry performances, workshops, book signings, opportunities to meet authors and a book parade!
Wordalive International Literary Festival
March 25th 2010
This is St. Lucias’s rapidly growing International Literary Festival! It aims to support and create a platform for young writers.
Antigua and Barbuda Literary Festival
November 4th-7th 2010 – No Longer Pperational
This three-day international festival is a celebration of literary arts. It features writer’s workshops, author readings, book signings, and special events.
Nov 25th – Dec 2nd, 2022
Gimistory is the Cayman Islands International Storytelling Festival. It seeks to revitalize the art of storytelling in all its forms (myth, legend, drama, written word) through workshops and featured storytellers.
BIM Literary Festival and Book Fair
May 14th-14th 2016
This Barbados literary festival aims to not only get people to engage with reading and writing but to bring writers, readers, editors, and agents together.
The Anguilla Literary Festival: A Literary Jollification
This weekend literary festival in Anguilla offers keynote presentations, panel discussions, author workshops and jollification!
Nature Island Literary Festival
Aug 9-11 2013
Though currently on hold, this Dominica based literary festival includes workshops, lectures, and performances by local artists. Attendees will have the opportunity to read, discuss, and write about literature together.
June 2 – 4, 2022
This is a multilingual book festival located in St. Martin. Several Events such as the book fair exhibition, book sales and signings, and workshops are free and open to the public.
The International Book Fair Santo Domingo
April 23rd-May 2nd, 2022
This Dominican Republic Based book fair features international authors and guests as well as a large variety of literary workshops for children, teens, and adults. They offer poetry readings and other literary performances, and the event is completely free of plastic bags to help preserve the environment!
Caribbean Festival of Arts or CARIFESTA
August 6th-15th 2021
An annual literary festival that seeks to promote arts of the Caribbean and create a space for artists and performers to exchange ideas through music, dance, poetry, visual art, and storytelling. Each year a different country hosts the festival!
Congrès International des écrivains de la Caraïbe
April 5th-9th 2017
The 5th Congress of Caribbean Writers is preparing to deploy its architecture, building on the first four founding blocks set firmly in Guadeloupe’s soil between 2008 and 2015. Although the idea of a writers’ conference is not original as such, this Guadeloupian initiative is marked by its innovative approach, glorifying the Caribbean spirit that expresses emotions and thoughts in all its linguistic sonorities.
Nov 12th-19th 2023
In 2020 MBF quickly reimagined and transitioned all programming online through an innovative new platform, MiamiBookFairOnline.com, built in record time to address pandemic-era shutdowns. That forever changed the way we Book Fair, and we now offer in-person and virtual programs as a hybrid entity. Today MBF is both an annual eight-day festival – typically featuring more than 500 authors, 200,000 attendees, 200+ national and international book exhibitors, and a robust schedule of literary, cultural, and educational events, supported by 1,000+ community volunteers – and a provider of a diverse slate of literary-centric programming year-round.
Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festivals
Sep 9th-11th 2022
The BCLF is a celebration of culture as expressed through the pen of the storyteller and the voice of the poet. It is a platform designed to support and facilitate vibrant conversations about Caribbean identity via a series of readings of classic and contemporary stories, workshops, events and talks through an annual capstone festival and a developing plan for year-long programming.
April 22nd-23rd, 2023
The nation’s largest literary event is back with an in-person event scheduled for this spring, April 22 and 23, on the lovely campus of the University of Southern California. Join us for one-on-one conversations, exciting panels, readings by your favorite authors, musical performances, and so much more!
October 7th-9th 2022
New Yorker Festival—a weekend of dynamic conversations, performances, and more.