The Hay Festival in Kerala, which started in November 2010, was a landmark for the cultural relationship between the UK and India as one of Britain’s greatest literary festivals launched its first Indian edition. The British Council works with Hay all around the world, an enormous opportunity to develop global cultural exchange between writers and readers; and in 2011-12 our work is bolstered by a major programme to develop links between India and Wales through literature.

Meanwhile, February 2012 will see the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens, arguably the UK’s greatest prose writer of course, but also an author whose indictments of urban poverty, corruption and social division – explored via riveting storytelling – are as relevant today as they were in the 1800s

DICKENS INDIA 2012
British Council’s initiative to celebrate the 200th birth anniversary of Charles Dickens

The British Council is working with over 50 countries worldwide to coordinate an exciting range of educational and cultural events celebrating the bicentenary of the UK's most prolific and influential novelists: Charles Dickens. To celebrate the bicentenary of Charles Dickens in India, the British Council present a range of activities presented through live as well as digital interface. For more information please click here