Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival hosts its inaugural London Edition on 4 November 2026

 The Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival (CLAF), which has focused on creating an influential arts and culture platform for Sri Lanka while profiling the island through its creative industries, is now preparing for its fourth edition. It has gained traction in a short time, guided by clear objectives that create meaningful opportunities for young people through its four pillars: literature, art, music and film.

Enhancing Sri Lanka’s soft power is one of the platform’s key missions, alongside engaging young people in these creative streams.

Sri Lanka’s stories and the writers who tell them will take centre stage in London as CLAF brings its London Edition to World Travel Market (WTM), one of the world’s leading travel trade events, on Wednesday 4 November 2026. Presented by Sri Lanka Tourism, the event will invite international audiences to discover the island through literature, ideas and conversation.

Ajai Vir Singh, Founder, Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival, said: “The London Edition is an important step as we expand our platform’s footprint beyond Sri Lanka, and it also strengthens Sri Lanka’s soft power. Bringing the festival to London alongside Sri Lanka Tourism is a key strategic goal in attracting the right travellers to the country. Arts and culture are an important medium for engaging a wider international audience.”

The list of speakers will include Shrabani Basu, author of Victoria & Abdul, which was adapted into a film starring Judi Dench; Booker-shortlisted novelist Romesh Gunasekera; Louise Doughty, whose fiction has been adapted for BBC One and ITV; comic novelist Ashok Ferrey; and economist Razeen Sally, author of Return to Sri Lanka. Their work spans history, fiction, humour and economics, with Sri Lankan writers Romesh Gunasekera, Razeen Sally and Ashok Ferrey carrying the island’s stories to a London audience.

Fazeena Rajabdeen, Co-founder & Director, Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival, said: “Culture is one of the most powerful ways a country can introduce itself. After four years of building a festival with Sri Lankan voices at its heart, we wanted to take those voices to the world, starting with London.” 

Following a welcome address by Ajai Vir Singh, the afternoon will unfold across three conversations. In Sri Lanka through the Eyes of Others, Romesh Gunasekera and Razeen Sally will be joined by moderator Ashok Ferrey; One Tear of Love brings together Louise Doughty and Ashok Ferrey; and in Tales from the Empire, Shrabani Basu will be in conversation with Ashok Ferrey.

The London Edition will introduce the festival’s fourth edition, taking place in Colombo from 22 to 24 January 2027, and encourage travel professionals to consider literature and the arts as reasons to visit Sri Lanka. The festival will bring together writers, artists, musicians and filmmakers from Sri Lanka and around the world across its four pillars of literature, art, music and film, with young and emerging Sri Lankan creatives at its heart. The full line-up, venues and ticketing details will be announced in the coming weeks. For audiences at home, the London Edition offers an early glimpse of the conversations to come in Colombo in January 2027