JLF Island of Ireland kicked off in style in Belfast this weekend with three days of conversations, performances and cultural exchange at Ulster University, marking the opening leg of the inaugural all-island edition of yet another JLF, the international segment of the globally renowned Jaipur Literature Festival.
Bringing together writers, thinkers and audiences through discussions spanning empire, language, climate, theatre, identity and geopolitics, the Belfast programme spanned some of the defining questions shaping the contemporary world, along with selections from the year’s most powerful books. Conversations explored the rise of identity-driven politics and strongman leadership, the future of multilateralism, the legacy of partition in Ireland and India, the evolving realities of borders, migration and belonging in post-conflict societies, and the nuances of writing for various literary genres ranging from crime-fiction to theatre.
Supported by the Government of Ireland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, JLF Island of Ireland is the first international edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival to take place as a cross-border, multi-city event of this scale, travelling across Belfast, Armagh, Dundalk and Dublin over ten days.
The programme opened with Empire: Ireland, India and the Making of the Modern World, where William Dalrymple, Nandini Das and Jane Ohlmeyer examined the intertwined histories of Ireland and India, a story shaped by empire and trade, migration and resistance, in conversation with Christopher Kissane. Discussions across the weekend reflected on the enduring impact of partition, with speakers like Aanchal Malhotra, Kavita Puri, Ida Milne and Cormac Moore exploring how borders continue to shape memory, identity and political life generations later. The Indian statesman and author Shashi Tharoor spoke with David Kenny on how constitutions shape our societies and our political futures; and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar spoke his mind on geopolitics and the constitutional future of the island of Ireland with Shona Murray. Writers like Lucy Caldwell and Michelle Galen spoke about the craft of interweaving personal narratives within strife-torn settings while Sinéad Gleeson and Wendy Erskine discussed the craft of the short story.
Poetry, music and live performance were central to the Belfast programme, with morning performances by Kartikeya and Makrand, alongside Macalla’s fusion of Irish harp and Iraqi qanun traditions, offering audiences a moving and reflective start to each festival day before conversations unfolded across the Ulster University campus.
The Belfast leg formed the opening public events of the wider ten-day festival, which continues this week with programmes in Armagh, Dundalk and Dublin, bringing together leading voices from Ireland, India and around the world across literature, history, politics, food, climate and contemporary culture.
For more information, visit: https://jlflitfest.org/ireland
