#DoekLitFest2026
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DAYS TO GO
180Days
07Hours
14Minutes
26Seconds
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THEME
HISTORY IS HANDMADE
Featuring conversations, poetry readings, creative writing and craft workshops, an art exhibition, musical performances, and vinyl selections about the processes, challenges, and joys of analogue storytelling, the 2026 Doek Literary Festival seeks to reinvigorate classic ways of writing, telling, and sharing stories: savouring the scratch or effortless glide of a pencil or pen on paper; the anticipation of waiting for a new book and the joy of rediscovering an old one in a secondhand shop and cosying up in a comfortable nook in which to read it; sitting around a fire and listening to a song; whispering a secret to a friend; finding a long-lost record and tenderly placing it beneath a record’s stylus to enjoy the opening crackles; and being immersed by words, sounds, and visions created by others in times and worlds far from this one.
Throughout the planning, organising, curating, and hosting of the festival special emphasis will be placed on human-made efforts and the many hands that keep the literary community and publishing industry alive. By centering people and human-made artefacts, the importance of the individual in an increasingly digital and distant world will be highlighted, reaffirming the belief that meaningful change—whether cultural, social, political, or economic—can only be effected by individual efforts working together towards communal goals.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you have any queries about the festival, please consult our FAQs page.