Shillong Literary Festival’s New Delhi Prelude brought Meghalaya’s creative pulse to the capital

The Shillong Literary Festival’s New Delhi Prelude wrapped up on May 9 at Bikaner House after two days of discussions that brought Meghalaya’s literature, cinema and cultural voices into the national spotlight.

Conceived as a curtain-raiser to the main Shillong Literary Festival scheduled for November 12 to 14 later this year, the New Delhi prelude brought together writers, filmmakers, journalists, policymakers and performers for conversations spanning literature, ecology, cinema, food and identity.

What gave the prelude its distinct identity was the way it moved beyond familiar aesthetic stereotypes often attached to the Northeast. Across discussions, readings and performances, the festival presented Meghalaya as more than a picturesque backdrop, bringing attention to the region’s literary traditions, oral histories, ecological consciousness and growing creative economy.

The opening day featured a conversation between Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and senior journalist Shekhar Gupta, where discussions around governance, entrepreneurship, youth aspirations and sustainable tourism reflected the larger vision behind the festival.

Cinema also took centre stage with filmmakers Dominic Sangma and Pradip Kurbah joining Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Suparna Sharma for a conversation on independent filmmaking from the Northeast and the ongoing challenge of visibility beyond regional circuits.

The festival’s literary programming stayed closely connected to indigenous storytelling traditions. Readings from Khasi and Garo classics by Dr. Streamlet Dkhar and Dr. Crystal Cornelious D. Marak brought attention to literary and oral traditions that continue to shape Meghalaya’s cultural identity.

Rather than treating these works as archival artefacts, the sessions highlighted how they still influence contemporary writing, memory and artistic expression in the region.

One of the standout moments of the prelude came with actor Naseeruddin Shah’s reading of The Elephant and the Tragopan, drawing from Vikram Seth’s Beastly Tales From Here and There alongside works by James Thurber. The performance brought a theatrical energy to the festival and reflected its larger attempt to connect literature with performance, music and wider public conversation.

The second day widened the discussion through sessions on food, ecology, translation and literary culture. Conversations such as Shillong On A Plate and Ecology and Identity explored how landscape, memory and local traditions continue to shape storytelling across the Northeast.

Speakers including Patricia Mukhim, Namita Gokhale, Shobhaa De and Sanjoy Hazarika also reflected on the role literary festivals continue to play as public forums for debate and cultural exchange.

In an official statement shared by the festival’s website, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma described the Delhi Prelude as “a declaration that Meghalaya belongs at the centre of India’s cultural conversation,” adding that the initiative aimed to bring the state’s literature, cinema, ecology and living traditions into dialogue with audiences in the capital ahead of the Shillong edition later this year.

Tourism Minister Timothy D. Shira said the festival sought to carry “the soul of the hills into the heart of the city,” while Commissioner and Secretary of the Tourism Department Dr. Vijay Kumar D noted that the prelude drew inspiration from Meghalaya’s living root bridges, using culture and storytelling as a way to build new conversations across regions and audiences.

The evenings closed with performances under the Chief Minister’s Meghalaya Grassroots Music Program, including showcases by Dalariti and Sax in the City. The musical line-up reinforced the festival’s larger vision of treating literature as part of a wider cultural landscape shaped by music, performance, memory and community life.

As the festival now heads toward its main edition at Ward’s Lake in Shillong later this year, the New Delhi Prelude succeeded in bringing conversations around the Northeast into a wider national space without reducing the region to familiar clichés.

At a time when literary festivals often compete for scale and visibility, the Shillong Literary Festival continues to stay rooted in regional voices, local histories and cultural memory.

You can watch Shillong Literary Festival: New Delhi Prelude on YouTube below: