After three successful editions, it is only fitting that the History Literature Festival is making its way to Hyderabad, a city with its own layered past.
The fourth edition of the festival will be held at Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, from February 6 to 8, bringing together historians, writers, researchers, artists, and cultural thinkers for three days of conversations about the past.
The History Literature Festival has previously been hosted in Ahmedabad, Pune and Bangalore, building a reputation for bringing history out of academic spaces and into public conversation. The festival positions itself at the intersection of historical research and storytelling. Through panel discussions, lectures and performances, the festival seeks to explore how history is written, remembered and experienced – from politics and migration to art, music, food, science and everyday culture.
What to expect at the Hyderabad edition
The Hyderabad edition will feature 15+ conversations spanning political history, regional narratives, art and architecture, music traditions, cinema and oral histories. Across three days, historians and writers will examine figures and ideas that shaped modern India, explore the cultural histories of the Deccan, and look at how art forms such as music and performance carry memory across generations. Some notable sessions to look forward to are-
- Melodies Through Time: Snippets of Music History
- Community Chemistries: Bengalis & Parsis
- Deccan Dynasties: A Medieval History
- Left, Right or Centre: Politics & Ideologies
- Hyderabad & Hyderabadis: Migrations & Transformations
- Microbes to Space Probes: India’s Story of Science
- Cinema of Hyderabad: Pasts and Futures
Speakers attending the festival include Aanchal Malhotra, Dinesh C Sharma, SV Srinivas, Anirudh Kanisetti, Rana Safvi, Vidya Rao, Serish Nanisetti, Eric Chopra and Narayani Basu, among many others.
Alongside discussions, each day of the festival will conclude with a curated performance. Evenings will feature presentations such as The Call of Hearts in Love: Myriad Living Traditions of Qawwali by Manjari Chaturvedi, with performances by the Warsi Brothers. Another notable performance will be Musical Narratives: Stories and Melodies of the Agra Gharana, led by Priya Purushothaman, accompanied by Milind Mysore on tabla and Rahul Deshpande on harmonium.
Who can attend
The History Literature Festival is open to all, with free entry for visitors across the three days. Designed to appeal to students, researchers, history enthusiasts and general readers alike, the festival welcomes anyone curious about the past and its many connections to the present. With its mix of discussions and cultural performances, it offers an accessible space for both serious history readers and first-time attendees.
You can register for the event here.
