The Literary Year
Twelve months of circles, evenings and festivals
Not a calendar grid — a reading year you can read. January through July are archived below; August onward is what's still to come.
Upcoming · August – December
Still to come this year
August
Women in Translation Month
Upcoming · 3 entries
Aug 08–24
FestivalEdinburgh International Book Festival
Edinburgh Futures Institute, Scotland
The largest public celebration of the written word. Litura runs an informal meetup each Saturday morning.
Aug 01–31
Reading MonthWomen in Translation Month
Worldwide
Every pick and side-read this month is by a woman writing in a language other than English.
Aug 27
Chapter CircleChapter Circle: The Remains of the Day, Part I
The Back Room, Ivy & Ink Books
First of two nights on Ishiguro. Read to the Salisbury chapter; spoilers held until September.
September
Prize Season Opens
Upcoming · 4 entries
Sep 16
Prize WatchBooker Prize shortlist announced
London, United Kingdom
Six novels. We split them between circles and report back before the November ceremony.
Sep 21–27
Reading WeekBanned Books Week
Worldwide
We read one challenged book together and host an open discussion on why it was challenged.
Sep 20
FestivalBrooklyn Book Festival
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Free, enormous and street-level. Our North American members organise the day themselves.
Sep 24
Author EveningAuthor Evening with a featured novelist
Litura Reading Room
An hour of conversation, thirty minutes of member questions, no book-signing queue.
October
Nobel & Frankfurt
Upcoming · 4 entries
Oct 08
Prize WatchNobel Prize in Literature announced
Swedish Academy, Stockholm
We watch live, place friendly bets, and read the laureate within the month whoever it is.
Oct 14–18
Book FairFrankfurt Book Fair
Messe Frankfurt, Germany
The publishing world's centre of gravity. Our curator returns with next year's shortlist of candidates.
Oct 22–25
FestivalAké Arts and Book Festival
Lagos, Nigeria
Africa's leading literary festival, and the anchor of our Lagos reading circle's year.
Oct 09–18
FestivalCheltenham Literature Festival
Cheltenham, United Kingdom
Ten days of talks. Members share notes in a single running discussion thread.
November
Awards & Long Nights
Upcoming · 4 entries
Nov 10
Prize WatchBooker Prize ceremony
London, United Kingdom
Our shortlist verdict is published the morning of the ceremony, win or lose.
Nov 18
Prize WatchNational Book Awards
New York, United States
Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature and young people's literature in one night.
Nov 28 – Dec 06
Book FairGuadalajara International Book Fair (FIL)
Guadalajara, Mexico
The great fair of the Spanish-speaking world, and our Latin American circle's home ground.
Nov 21
FestivalMiami Book Fair
Miami Dade College, United States
Eight days, hundreds of authors, and a street fair worth the flight.
December
The Year in Review
Upcoming · 3 entries
Dec 04
Members' NightLitura Year in Books
The Back Room, Ivy & Ink Books
Every member brings the best book they read this year — not the best published this year.
Dec 12
Quiet NightSilent Reading Hour & Wine
Members' Lounge
The last quiet night of the year, with the lamps low and nothing scheduled after it.
Dec 18
NominationsNominations close for next year's picks
Litura Table (online)
One nomination per member, two lines on why. The council publishes the calendar in January.
Previous · January – July