The Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Literary Meet was launched in 2016 to celebrate Odisha’s literature and allied cultural pursuits such as dance, music and theatre. The festival, say the organisers, is an “endeavour to take Odisha to a wider audience and bring the world to Odisha”. The events include talks, discussions, workshops, book launches, film screenings, plays, dance recitals and music performances.
Over the years, the three-day event has hosted such eminent writers as Nayantara Sahgal, Jayanta Mahapatra, Manoj Das, Ruskin Bond, Mark Tully, Kiran Nagarkar and William Dalrymple. After taking a break in 2021 owing to the pandemic, the Tata Steel Bhubaneswar Literary Meet returned in 2022 for its sixth edition. Ornithologist Bikram Grewal, Odia writer Yashodhara Mishra, entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani and actor Rahul Bose were among the speakers.
Check out more literature festivals here.
1. By Air: Biju Patnaik Airport is the main domestic airport and is located about 3 km from the city. Travellers can get flights from metros such as Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata to Bhubaneswar.
2. By Rail: Bhubaneswar Railway Station is the main railway station of the city and is situated in the centre of city. Superfast and other passenger trains are easily available from this station. You can get trains to Guwahati, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and many other cities.
3. By Road: To get into and around the city, you can get various modes of transport such as buses, taxis and auto rickshaws. Bhubaneswar Bus Station is 8 km from the city centre, you can take buses operated by Orissa State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC). Private buses are also easily available from there.
Source: Goibibo






1. A sturdy water bottle, if the festival has refillable water stations and the venue allows bottles to be taken inside.
2. A pen. Authors are often available for signing books and may not always have a pen at hand. Also, if you already have books from the visiting authors on your bookshelf that you want to get signed, you could carry them too.
3. A tote bag for all those books and brochures you may want to lug back home.
4. Cash and cards. Most literature festivals have bookstalls selling books of invited authors. It’s always a good idea to carry debit/credit cards as well as cash in case technology fails us or if you want to avail of cash discounts that they offer on the spot.
5. COVID packs: Hand sanitiser, extra masks and a copy of your vaccination certificate are things you should keep handy.


