Introduction
Abstract
Literary festivals are complex and widespread, and attract huge numbers of audience members every year. They are used by publishers as marketing exercises, funded by education- or tourism-conscious governments, and consumed as cultural products in their own rights. This chapter defines and provides a brief contextual history of contemporary literary festivals. It provides a brief introduction to configuring forces, developed and analysed in full later in the volume, that shape the ways these festivals function, including personal meaningfulness, digital disruption, political involvement, and social exclusion.