Literary Escapes: Radisson’s journey into stories & stays

At Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Delhi Airport, the first chapter of Literary Escapes came alive with acclaimed author and diplomat Vikas Swarup, who gained global recognition with his debut novel, Q&A, adapted into the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire. The event was attended by readers, travelers, and guests, who explored the intersection of fiction, identity, and humanity.

Swarup’s reflections on storytelling seamlessly bridged the worlds of literature and diplomacy, transforming the evening into a dialogue on empathy, perspective, and shared experience. It was a reminder that Radisson Hotels are not merely places to stay, but spaces where imagination and ideas take center stage.

The Kochi edition of Literary Escapes unfolded in a city steeped in memory, trade and cultural exchange. Benyamin, the award-winning author known for Goat Days, brought life stories of migration, identity, and the emotional geographies of the modern world. Within the hotel’s warm ambience, guests shared dialogues that mirrored the rhythm of the sea outside.

Every conversation drifted like a gentle, probing, and resonant tide. Kochi’s layered history of journeys and homecomings found a literary echo in Benyamin’s words, reaffirming Radisson Hotel Group’s belief that every destination holds a story waiting to be told.

At the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Literary Escapes took a bold creative leap by uniting art and literature under one roof. The museum turned into an immersive storytelling space where paintings and prose conversed, and audiences wandered from canvas to chapters as author and screenwriter Advaita Kala took over the stage.

This collaboration expanded the boundaries of what a literary event can be. It was not merely an evening with a book reading session; it was a sensory experience that celebrated imagination in all its forms, bridging artistic disciplines and audiences alike.

The fifth edition, hosted at Radisson Blu Plaza Delhi Airport, featured renowned author, historian, and cultural critic Dr. Rakhshanda Jalil. Known for her scholarship on Urdu literature and Delhi’s cultural history, Dr. Jalil led conversations about heritage, modernity and the evolving voice of Indian storytelling. The event symbolized the Literary Escapes growing depth and reach. Guests were invited to rediscover reading as an act of cultural preservation.

RHG’s Literary Escapes is not just about curated events. It signals a shift in how hospitality, culture, and storytelling can intersect. Through this initiative, RHG positions its properties as cultural spaces. Guests don’t just experience a stay they engage with ideas, culture and traditions of places. As Bibliotourism and merging travel trend where guests discover places as per their interest in literature, history, culture - becomes popular, an initiative like Literary Escapes offers unique experiences to travelers.

By hosting luminaries across genres and geographies, the campaign elevates hotel stays into meaning-making journeys. Because each event istailored as per the destination and its culture. Literary Escapes also help build partnerships.

Each edition of Literary Escapes is a chapter. Whether it was joining Vikas Swarup amid Delhi’s vibrant rhythm, breathing Dharamshala’s mountain air with Kasturi Mahanta’s words, tracing Kochi’s layered tides through Benyamin’s narratives, or walking art-laced corridors with stories that linger each encounter has shaped a living narrative.

Literary Escapes by Radisson is not confined to one edition, one hotel, or one author. It is a continuing dialogue between places, people, and stories, a journey that evolves with every telling.

As long as readers open books, travelers explore, and voices come together, the story continues to unfold. We invite guests, authors, and readers alike to walk beside us in this ever-growing chapter.