Programme
Follow a thought.
Find a festival.
Five days on the shore of Ashtamudi, from New Year’s Eve to 4 January: conversations, readings, films, music, theatre and a youth stage.
Proposed programme Sessions, times and speakers are subject to confirmation.
The programme
Five days.
45 sessions.
Pick a day, or follow a strand across all five. The ★ marks the sessions not to miss.
45 sessions over 5 days
Day 1 ·
The Eve.
The first chapter opens at sunset. A great novelist speaks, a lamp is lit by the water, Shanka Tribe takes the stage, and 2027 arrives over Ashtamudi.
5 sessions★ 3 not to miss
- Book fair · Ashramam Maidan · 15:00–23:00
- Food festival · Ashramam Maidan · from 18:00
17:00to 18:00
LiteratureConversation★ Don’t miss
Why we still need stories
The opening conversation. The novelist from Mahé, whose Delhi: A Soliloquy won the JCB Prize for Literature, on a lifetime of stories and why they matter more than ever.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
18:15to 18:45
Ceremony
Lighting the lamp at sunset
The festival opens by the water as the sun goes down: a traditional lamp, a welcome from Kollam, and the first page turned.
With Festival hosts and guests of honour (to be announced)
Ashramam MaidanBilingual
19:00to 20:00
LiteraturePanel
The year in books
A lively, opinionated look back at the Malayalam and English books that defined 2026, and the ones to read next.
With Critics, booksellers and readers (invited)
8 Point Art CafeBilingual
20:30to 23:30
MusicPerformance★ Don’t miss
New Year’s Eve by the lake: Shanka Tribe
Shanka Tribe plays the old year out and the new one in, live on the open-air stage by the lake, all the way to the countdown.
With Shanka Tribe
Ashramam Maidan
23:45to 00:15
Ceremony★ Don’t miss
Countdown on Ashtamudi
The countdown to 2027 with Shanka Tribe on stage, together by the lake, and the first minutes of the new year.
Ashramam MaidanBilingual
No sessions in this strand on this day. Try another day, or all strands.
Day 2 ·
First light.
New Year’s Day begins with poems at sunrise and becomes a day of great Malayalam storytellers: the novel, the short story and the films that grew from them. At night, Khasak opens.
10 sessions★ 4 not to miss
- Book fair · Ashramam Maidan · 10:00–21:00
- Food festival · Ashramam Maidan · 17:00–23:00
- Exhibition: Eight Arms, art on Ashtamudi · 8 Point Art Cafe · 10:00–20:00
06:30to 07:30
LiteratureReading
First light: poems for a new year
Readings on the lakeside deck as the first sun of 2027 comes up over the water.
With Young poets of Kerala, chosen by open call
8 Point Art CafeBilingual
10:00to 11:00
LiteratureConversation★ Don’t miss
The Malayali in the mirror
The author of Manushyanu Oru Aamukham (A Preface to Man), winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, on a novel that spans a century of Kerala life, and what it says about us.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
11:00to 12:30
LiteratureWorkshop
From notebook to novel
A hands-on workshop for first-time writers with the author of the bestselling Ram C/O Anandhi. Limited places.
8 Point Art CafeMalayalam
11:30to 12:30
LiteratureConversation
Short story, long life
Two masters of the form on why the Malayalam short story keeps reinventing itself, from Bhaskara Pattelar to Biriyani.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
14:00to 15:00
LiteratureConversation★ Don’t miss
Meesha: a novel and its storm
The JCB Prize-winning novelist on writing Meesha (Moustache), the storm that met it, and what a novel owes its readers.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
15:00to 16:30
Children'sPerformance
Story Boat: tales from the lake
Stories of fish, boats and monsoon ghosts for ages 6 to 12, with a drawing to take home.
With Storytellers (to be announced)
Ashramam MaidanMalayalam
15:30to 16:45
CinemaConversation
Agnisakshi to Ore Kadal: the art of adaptation
The filmmaker known for bringing novels and plays to the screen on what to keep, what to let go, and how a book becomes a film.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreBilingual
17:00to 18:00
ArtWorkshop
Sketching the backwaters
Illustrators draw the lake live as the light changes. Bring a sketchbook and join in.
With Illustrators from Kerala (invited)
8 Point Art CafeBilingual
18:00to 19:30
LiteraturePerformance★ Don’t miss
Kavi Arangu: poetry without borders
The Tamil poet and seven-time National Award-winning lyricist reads with Malayalam poets: two languages, one evening of verse.
With Malayalam poets (invited)
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreBilingual
19:00Evening
TheatrePerformance★ Don’t miss
Khasakkinte Ithihasam: opening night
O. V. Vijayan’s novel as immersive theatre, directed by Deepan Sivaraman: a world you walk into. Evening performance; exact time to be confirmed. Ticketed separately: ₹1,500, or ₹1,600 with a Festival Pass for all five days.
Choose your ticketAshramam MaidanMalayalam
No sessions in this strand on this day. Try another day, or all strands.
Day 3 ·
Voices without borders.
A day about crossing over, into other languages, other lives and other art forms: translation, women’s writing, a film that broke loose, history for everyone, and a night that belongs to the young.
11 sessions★ 3 not to miss
- Book fair · Ashramam Maidan · 10:00–21:00
- Food festival · Ashramam Maidan · 17:00–23:00
- Exhibition: Eight Arms, art on Ashtamudi · 8 Point Art Cafe · 10:00–20:00
07:00to 09:00
ArtWalk
Murals and memory: a heritage walk
A morning walk through Kollam’s old quarters with the art historian, on temple murals, trade and the city’s layered past. Starts at 8 Point Art Cafe; places are limited.
8 Point Art CafeMalayalam
10:00to 11:00
LiteratureConversation★ Don’t miss
Aalahayude Penmakkal, and after
One of Malayalam’s boldest novelists on women, faith, the land, and the lives her novels bring to the centre.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
11:00to 12:30
Book FairPanel
Publishers’ table: the future of the book
Paper, screens, audiobooks and translation: publishers on what readers want next, and how a new writer gets found.
With Malayalam, English and Tamil publishers (invited)
8 Point Art CafeBilingual
11:30to 12:45
LiteratureConversation
Mahé, Delhi and the world
How a Malayalam novel travels: the author and his translators on carrying a language, its jokes and its silences, into English.
With The translators of Delhi: A Soliloquy (invited)
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreBilingual
14:00to 15:15
CinemaConversation★ Don’t miss
Jallikattu: when a story breaks loose
The director and the writer on turning the short story Maoist into Jallikattu, a film that ran wild across the world’s festivals.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
15:00to 16:30
LiteratureWorkshop
Carry a poem across
Translate a Malayalam poem into English, or the other way, with working translators. No experience needed, just two languages.
With Poet-translators (invited)
8 Point Art CafeBilingual
15:30to 16:30
Ideas & SocietyConversation
Travancore, retold
The historian behind The Ivory Throne on queens, courts and the art of writing history that people actually want to read.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreEnglish
17:00to 18:30
YouthPerformance
Poetry Slam: the heats
Three minutes, one mic, no mercy. College poets compete for a place in Monday’s final.
With College teams from across Kerala
8 Point Art CafeBilingual
19:00Evening
TheatrePerformance★ Don’t miss
Khasakkinte Ithihasam: second night
The second of three performances at Ashramam Maidan. Evening performance; exact time to be confirmed. Ticketed separately: ₹1,500, or ₹1,600 with a Festival Pass for all five days.
Choose your ticketAshramam MaidanMalayalam
19:00to 21:30
YouthPerformance
Indie & Rap Night
The festival turns up the volume: Malayalam rap, indie bands and spoken word.
With Independent musicians and rappers from Kerala (invited)
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreBilingual
19:30to 21:30
CinemaScreening
Cinema by the lake: Jallikattu
An open-air screening on the lakeside, with English subtitles. Subject to screening rights.
8 Point Art CafeMalayalam
No sessions in this strand on this day. Try another day, or all strands.
Day 4 ·
The long road.
Journeys of every kind: to over a hundred countries, into silence, across a desert on film, and back through a thousand years of Kollam’s own history. Sunday ends with song, and Khasak’s final night.
10 sessions★ 5 not to miss
- Book fair · Ashramam Maidan · 10:00–21:00
- Food festival · Ashramam Maidan · 17:00–23:00
- Exhibition: Eight Arms, art on Ashtamudi · 8 Point Art Cafe · 10:00–20:00
06:30to 07:45
Ideas & SocietyConversation
Sunrise with Sri M
The author of Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master on walking, listening and the journey within, followed by a few minutes of shared silence by the lake.
8 Point Art CafeEnglish
10:00to 11:00
Ideas & SocietyConversation★ Don’t miss
The world is a classroom
The creator of Sancharam on travelling to over a hundred countries with a camera, and what Kerala can learn from the world.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
11:00to 13:00
ArtWorkshop
Kerala murals: a hands-on workshop
Learn the lines, colours and stories of Kerala’s mural tradition, and paint a small panel to take home.
With Mural artists (invited)
8 Point Art CafeMalayalam
11:30to 12:30
Ideas & SocietyConversation★ Don’t miss
Quilon: the port that named a calendar
Kollam’s thousand-year story: the port Marco Polo called Coilum, traders from China and Arabia, and the Kollam Era that still dates the Malayalam calendar.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreEnglish
14:00to 15:15
CinemaConversation★ Don’t miss
Aadujeevitham: sixteen years to film a novel
The director on bringing Benyamin’s novel of survival in the desert to the screen as The Goat Life, a journey that took sixteen years.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
15:00to 16:30
Children'sWorkshop
Kites over Ashtamudi
Make a kite from paper and bamboo, write a line of poetry on its tail, and fly it by the lake. Ages 6 and up.
With Kite makers (to be announced)
Ashramam MaidanMalayalam
15:30to 16:45
Ideas & SocietyPanel
Freedom to write
Three writers who have never been afraid of an argument, on courage, censorship and the reader’s right to disagree.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
17:00to 18:30
YouthScreening
Reels & Short-Film Challenge: the shortlist
The best 60-second reels and short films made for the festival, on the big screen, with an audience vote.
With Young filmmakers from Kerala’s colleges
8 Point Art CafeBilingual
18:00to 20:00
MusicPerformance★ Don’t miss
Words for music
The lyricist and the composer on how a song is made, where the words end and the tune begins, with live performances of songs old and new.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreBilingual
19:00Evening
TheatrePerformance★ Don’t miss
Khasakkinte Ithihasam: final night
The last of three performances at Ashramam Maidan. Evening performance; exact time to be confirmed. Ticketed separately: ₹1,500, or ₹1,600 with a Festival Pass for all five days.
Choose your ticketAshramam MaidanMalayalam
No sessions in this strand on this day. Try another day, or all strands.
Day 5 ·
The next chapter.
The last day belongs to what comes next: a veteran of stage and screen, a masterclass for storytellers, the poetry slam final, the Khasak company in conversation, and three generations of writers closing the book, for now.
9 sessions★ 3 not to miss
- Book fair · Ashramam Maidan · 10:00–20:00
- Food festival · Ashramam Maidan · 17:00–22:00
- Exhibition: Eight Arms, art on Ashtamudi · 8 Point Art Cafe · 10:00–18:00
07:00to 08:00
MusicPerformance
Morning ragas by the lake
A quiet start to the last day: violin and voice on the lakeside deck.
With Carnatic musicians (invited)
8 Point Art Cafe
10:00to 11:00
TheatreConversation★ Don’t miss
A life on stage and screen
From his father N. N. Pillai’s theatre to the centenarian he played in Pookkaalam: the actor on a lifetime of performing.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
11:00to 13:00
CinemaWorkshop
Screenwriting from books: a masterclass
How to read a novel like a screenwriter: structure, point of view, and the scenes that were never in the book. Limited places.
8 Point Art CafeBilingual
11:30to 12:30
ArtConversation
The art of the Kerala temple
The art historian on murals, wood carving and the stories painted on temple walls, and how to look at them.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
14:00to 15:30
YouthPerformance★ Don’t miss
Poetry Slam: the final
The best college poets of the festival face off for the KILF 2027 slam title.
With Finalists from Saturday’s heats · Judges: poets and performers (invited)
Ashramam MaidanBilingual
15:30to 16:30
TheatreConversation
After Khasak: the company in conversation
Three nights on, the director and the company on staging a novel that readers carry in their heads.
With Director Deepan Sivaraman and the Khasakkinte Ithihasam company (invited)
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
17:00to 18:15
LiteraturePanel★ Don’t miss
Three generations, one language
The closing conversation: three novelists from three generations on where the Malayalam novel came from, and where it goes next.
Sreenarayana Guru Cultural CentreMalayalam
18:30to 19:00
Ceremony
Closing the book, for now
Thank-yous, the slam champion’s winning poem, and a promise to meet again by the lake.
Ashramam MaidanBilingual
19:00to 21:30
MusicPerformance
Songs of the shore
The closing concert: Kerala’s folk songs, boat songs and new sounds, under the open sky.
With Folk and fusion artists from Kerala (invited)
Ashramam MaidanMalayalam
No sessions in this strand on this day. Try another day, or all strands.
A day at KILF
From first light
to the last song.
How a festival day flows. The programme above has the time of every session.
Morning
Conversations and readings
Writers and thinkers on the main stages, with time for your questions.
Afternoon
Book fair and workshops
New releases, signed copies, and hands-on sessions for young and old.
Evening
Stage and screen
Theatre, films that began as books, and the youth stage.
Night
Music and food by the lake
Kollam’s kitchens and live music by the water, until the last song.
Strands
Nine strands.
One shore.
Follow the one you love, or wander into one you never expected.
Literature
Novelists, poets and critics in conversation.
Cinema
From the page to the frame, and back.
Music
Songs, lyrics and evenings by the lake.
Theatre
Stories staged, and stories you step into.
Art
Exhibitions, illustration and visual storytelling.
Ideas & Society
History, faith, media and the questions Kerala keeps asking.
Children's
Storytelling, workshops and first favourite books.
Book Fair
Publishers, new releases and signed copies.
Food Festival
Kollam's kitchens, by the water, after dark.
Formats
Six ways
to spend an hour.
Most sessions are in Malayalam, with several in English and some bilingual. Every session in the programme lists its language.
Conversations
Two or three voices, one stage, and room for the audience to join in.
Readings
Authors read from new and loved work, in Malayalam and English.
Panels
Questions Kerala keeps asking: history, faith, media and society.
Workshops
Small, hands-on sessions on writing, illustration and storytelling.
Performances
Theatre, music and spoken word, on stage and by the lake.
Screenings
Films that began as books, followed by talks with their makers.