The annual lectures of the Sahitya Akademi known as Samvatsar Lectures are given by a distinguished writer and a creative thinker who has a thorough understanding of Indian literature. These lectures may reflect a deep concern for values and should open up new vistas of thinking regarding a literary movement, a current literary trend, some original thinking about a great writer or a great classic or a new path in literary criticism or literary creation.

The following scholars have delivered Samvatsar Lectures so far:

• Sri Pranab Mukherjee on 26 February 2020.
• Prof. Gopi Chand Narang on Faiz Ahmad Faiz: Thought Structure, Evolutionary Love and Aesthetic Sensibility on 30 January 2019.
• Dr. S. L. Bhyrappa on Ascent to Vyaasa Guha on 13 February 2018.
• Dr. Ramachandra Guha on The Craft of Historical Biography on 23 February 2017.
• Dr. Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari on Let's look at ourselves afresh with our spectacles removed on 17 February 2016.
• Dr. Ashis Nandy on Do We Protect Cultural Diversity or Does Cultural Diversity Protect us? on 10 March 2015.
• Prof. O.N.V. Kurup on Poetry That Defies Definitions: its Relevance in Modern Times on 10 March 2014.
• Dr. Bhalchandra Nemade on How much space does an Indian writer needs? Literary Standards - Native, Western, Global on 19 February 2013.
• Dr. Surjit Patar on Poetry and Nature on 15 February 2012.
• Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on The Evolution of Enlightened Citizen on 16 February 2011.
• Dr. Karan Singh on Vedanata Today on 17 February 2010
• Sri Amitav Ghosh on Aspect of Indian Literature on 18 February 2009.
• Prof. Manoj Das on Six Streams of Creative Inspiration: Yesterday and Today on 24 February 2008.
• Prof. U.R. Anantha Murthy on Five Decades of My Writing on 21 February 2007.
• Sri Girish Karnad on Globalisation, Culture, Colonialism, Caste, Class etc. on 22 Feburary 2006.
• Prof. K. Ayyappa Paniker on Like a River Fed by Many a Stream: Reflections on the Confluence of Cultures on 17 February 2005.
• Prof. G.C. Pandey on Literature and Consciousnus on 25 February 2004.
• Prof. C.D. Narasimhaiah on an Enquiry into the Indian English Literature on 18 February 2003.
• Sri Vijay Tendulkar on Criminals and Killers: A Personal View on 20 February 2002.
• Sri Niranjan Bhagat on Chitrangada: Tagore's Myth of Illusion and Reality on 21 February 2001.
• Sri Kunwar Narain on Literature and New Economic Criticism on 23 February 2000.
• Sri M.T. Vasudevan Nair on The Frontiers of Fiction on 24-25 February 1999.
• Sri Subhas Mukhopadhyay on Indian Poetry after Independence: Towards a History of Sensibility on 12-13 March 1998.
• Sri Nirmal Verma on The Concept of Truth in Art on 24-25 February 1996 and on public demand repeated again on 19-20 February 1997.
• Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra on Poetry and Passion: The Search for the Other Voice on 22-23 February 1995.
• Dr. Navakanta Barua on Folkways in Literature: An Aesthetic Imperative on 16-17 February 1994.
• Prof. Vidya Niwas Misra on Sahrdaya on 18-19 February 1993.
• Dr. Ale Ahmad Suroor on Has Literature Failed? The Universal Element in Literature: Ghalib on 23-24 February 1992. The book is published under the title Literature: The Question and the Answer.
• Sri Vinda Karandikar on Literature as a Vital Art on 17-18 February 1991.
  Prof. K. Sivarama Karanth on My Concern for Life, Literature and Art on 20-21 February 1990.
• Prof. K.R. Srinivasa lyengar on The Man of Letters and the Doomsday Clock on 18-19 February 1989.
• Prof. Umashankar Joshi on The Idea of Indian Literature on 19-20 February 1988.
  Sri Annanda Sankar Ray on Renaissance in Bengal: In Retrospect on 21-22 February 1987.
• Sri S.H. Vatsyayan 'Agyeya' on Smriti Ke Paridrishya (Perspectives of Memory) on 12 March 1986.

All these lectures have been brought out in book form by the Akademi except the last one which will be made available soon.