lisbon literature days (dll)
March 25 – 29, 2026

In recent years, new international literature festivals have emerged across all continents, highlighting the importance of literature and achieving great things in literary outreach—including for children and young people. The first such festival took place in Cheltenham in 1949—today, there are over 200. Yet a broad exchange between festivals on form and content has never occurred. This is now urgently needed, especially amid cultural, political, and media upheavals that pose new threats to literary events. For example, the “World Voices” festival founded by Salman Rushdie in 2005 cancelled its 2024 edition due to protests and boycotts related to the Gaza war. Festivals in the UK such as Hay-on-Wye (May 2024) and Edinburgh (August 2024) also faced activist and author pressure and ended long-standing sponsorships with Baillie Gifford, accused of insufficient action on climate change. The next major topic is artificial intelligence: AI can generate texts—are some of them literary? Can they support writing and translation? Who is using ChatGPT and similar software? Social media, once a grassroots corrective and communications booster, is undergoing dramatic change—especially after Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter/X and Mark Zuckerberg’s resistance to fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram. The literary sector must confront these developments head-on. The venue of the event is Lisbon. Why Lisbon?

Lisbon has recently become one of Europe’s most attractive capitals: architecturally, culturally, and infrastructurally. Its ocean setting and vibrant youth scene, along with its literary heritage—Luís Vaz de Camões, Fernando Pessoa, José Saramago, Lídia Jorge, Antonio Tabucchi, Nuno Júdice, António Lobo Antunes—make it ideal. Cultural institutions like the Casa Fernando Pessoa, the José Saramago Foundation, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation enrich the city’s literary life. The lisbon literature days will promote dialogue between the Portuguese and international literary sectors. In addition to festival and book fair directors, programmers, and organizers, journalists and photographers will be invited to amplify Lisbon’s literary profile worldwide. The event is currently funded by the Jan Michalski Foundation (Switzerland) and Bebelplatz e.V. (Berlin). The team includes professionals from Portugal, the UK, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Further information will follow in the autumn newsletter.