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Edition I — Edition XIV

Thirteen editions of a continuing conversation.

Since 2013, Metaphor has gathered conversations that have moved between literature, cinema and the life of the city. The archive brings those thirteen editions together through photographs, programmes and the people who have been part of them.

Edition XIV · 2026

XIV

Edition XIV · 28–29 November 2026

The fourteenth edition will take place on 28–29 November 2026 at Le Press, Hazratganj, Lucknow.

Explore the programme

Festival volunteers conferring together between programme sessions Edition XIII · 2025 XIII At the historic press. Gathered at Le Press on Newal Kishore Road in tribute to the print legacy of Munshi Newal Kishore, the thirteenth edition welcomed writers, poets and International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq, who received the festival's prestigious Ram Advani Award. 13–14 December 2025 Le Press, Hazratganj Open Imtiaz Ali and Piyush Mishra in conversation on stage at Metaphor Lucknow Litfest 2024. Edition XII · 2024 XII Two days in December. The twelfth edition brought together voices from across India to the CII campus in Gomti Nagar. A free Young Literature Festival ran alongside the main programme, and the cinema dialogue with Imtiaz Ali and Piyush Mishra overran because nobody would leave. 14–15 December 2024 CII, Gomti Nagar Open Guests and speakers smiling together during a courtyard interval Edition XI · 2023 XI Spring in the city. A vibrant spring edition dedicated to young readers, regional folklore, poetry recitals and discussions on translation across Indian languages. 25–26 March 2023 Lucknow Open Javed Akhtar addressing the audience during his session at Metaphor Edition X · 2022 X Ten years, and still arguing. A decade, marked at Mall Avenue. Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi launched a book; a room of about four hundred people found out what an Urdu couplet does to a Sunday afternoon. 17–18 December 2022 Lebua, Mall Avenue Open The festival auditorium illuminated by stage spotlights during an evening session Edition IX · 2021 IX Gathering again under Awadh skies. Marking a return to public gathering, the ninth edition reconnected poets, biographers and citizens in open courtyards across the city. December 2021 Lucknow Open A guest in an embroidered Lucknow cap standing beneath an arch at Lebua Edition VIII · 2020 VIII Conversations in an uncertain time. Adapted to a changing world, the eighth edition brought conversations to readers through hybrid readings, published writings and reflections on literature during upheaval. November 2020 Lucknow Open Madhuri Dixit speaking about cinema and arts at Metaphor Lucknow Litfest Edition VII · 2019 VII The year the film people came. The cinema year. Film-makers outnumbered novelists and nobody complained, least of all the novelists. December 2019 Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow Open Attendees filling the auditorium during an evening session at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan Edition VI · 2018 VI Winter conversations in Gomti Nagar. A late December gathering uniting voices from theatre, cinema, Hindi journalism and Awadhi culinary culture. 28–30 December 2018 Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Gomti Nagar Open The audience in the main auditorium listening closely during a panel session Edition V · 2017 V Three days. One building. Every argument. Three days, and the festival's largest room yet. Historians, novelists and a flautist, on the same weekend, in the same building. 17–19 November 2017 Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Gomti Nagar Open An open-air panel discussion with authors and audience members at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan Edition IV · 2016 IV From heritage to the page. Sessions moved across Urdu poetry, modern Hindi prose, biographical narratives and the preservation of historic Lucknow. 19–21 February 2016 Lucknow Open Speakers engaged in lively dialogue on stage during the 2017 edition Edition III · 2015 III Three days on the riverbank. Three days across mid-February exploring Awadh's syncretic heritage, contemporary poetry, journalism and youth writing. 13–15 February 2015 Lucknow Open Audience members seated during a Metaphor Lucknow Litfest session. Edition II · 2014 II A festival takes root. Returning in winter, the second edition expanded the conversation into regional languages, historical fiction and cultural debate, cementing the festival's annual presence. 1–2 February 2014 Lucknow Open Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam addressing a packed hall at the inaugural Metaphor Lucknow Litfest in 2013 Edition I · 2013 I Somebody had to go first. Lucknow had never held a literature festival. Metaphor was the first — and it opened with former President Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam lighting a ceremonial lamp in front of a full auditorium. 23–24 March 2013 Ravindralaya, Lucknow Open