Literary life in Wiesbaden is characterized by the lively involvement of literary associations, literary initiatives and bookshops. The latter organized the multi-week literary festival "Buchseiten - Buchzeiten" (Book Pages - Book Times) every year from 2001-13 (which emerged from the "Wiesbadener Büchertage" 1990-2000).

In order to counter the increasing economization and concentration of the book trade by bookstore chains and department stores, six small bookstores in Wiesbaden joined forces in 2006 to form the association "Die Sechs Richtigen" (The Six Right Ones) to offer events, readings and lectures on literature that would otherwise not be financially viable.

Among the literary events in Wiesbaden, the crime genre is particularly well represented. The Wiesbadener Krimiherbst should be highlighted here. The association "Where the wild words are" was founded in 2002 to organize poetry slams and unconventional readings such as open mics. The writing workshop at the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, which was founded by authors in 1993, is dedicated to the promotion and creation of contemporary literature. Under the name "Dostoyevsky's Heirs", Wiesbaden crime writers meet once a month to exchange ideas in the Literaturhauscafé.

Another venue for the presentation of prose and poetry is the Literaturtreff Multatuli, run by Wiesbaden-based publisher Edition 6065. In 2009, a haiku circle was set up there, and it is also the home of the Caliban-Literaturwerkstatt e.V., founded in 2006, where contemporary and older literary texts are discussed and recited.

Numerous smaller private literary circles, such as the Literaturfreunde Dichterviertel and cultural associations such as the Deutsche Dostojewskij-Gesellschaft (Rhein Main Working Group) founded in 1990, the Società Dante Alighieri Wiesbaden, the Deutsch-Französische Gesellschaft Wiesbaden e.V. and the Deutsch-Polnische Gesellschaft Mainz-Wiesbaden e.V. contribute to the diversity of literary events.