“Now in my 90s, for me, it’s a great opportunity to have witnessed such a festival like this. From an age when we were banned from reading books, we have now arrived at an era where an entire festival is being organized for the sake of books. This is an extremely proud moment for me,” said Poet Ghimire. He added that Nepali literature is gradually growing bigger and carving its way into the sphere of international literature. Highlighting the importance of events like Ncell Nepal Literature Festival, Poet Ghimire further remarked, “Festivals like this would add an extra vigor to the identity of national authors, and help in taking them to the international arena.”
Sandwiched between two major festivals of the country, Dashain and Tihar, the Ncell Nepal Literature Festival 2013 – the festival of words, is adding to the festive mood of the nation, claimed Festival Director Ajit Baral.
While keynote speaker for the event Dr Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha praised the organizers in being able to bring together Nepalis beyond caste, culture and any other superficial differences, the inauguration ceremony was further jeweled by the words from Bairagi Kainla, the Vice Chancellor of Nepal Academy who said, “This celebration is not only limited to literature, but is a gathering of creative society and arts.”
The day unfolded with the launching of the second volume of the literary magazine, La Lit. The magazine which features English fiction from a new generation of Nepali writers was launched by writers Prajwal Parajuly and Farah Ghuznavi.
L to R: National Poet Laureate Madhav Prasad Ghimire inaugurates Ncell Nepal Literatre 2013 with Festival Director Ajit Baral and Executive Director Niraj Bhari at the premises of Nepal Academy Hall in Kamaladi on Friday. (BIJAY RAI/REPUBLICA)
The first session of the festival was a conversation moderated by Jhalak Subedi on the political exposé, ‘Prayogshala’, held between the book’s author Sudheer Sharma, journalist Yuvraj Ghimire and leftist political analyst Mumaram Khanal. This was followed by a discussion between Narayan Wagle, Subin Bhattarai and Sharada Sharma on the issue of the necessity of glamour in writing. Simultaneously, international authors Parajuly and Ghuznavi along with Rabi Thapa discussed on the techniques of writing, especially focusing on the publication of short fiction and its popularity versus that of a novel.
Later, readers with varied interests enjoyed the discussion focused on Prakash Iyer’s bestseller ´The Winning Habit´ conducted by banker Anil K Shah. While in the parallel session, Prof Dr Abhi Subedi and columnist Khagendra Sangraula discussed about the role of a writer through the eyes of a writer.
The festival concluded with a session titled ´Teen Yayabar´, which featured poet Upendra Subba, and writers Kumar Nagarkoti and Sanjeev Upreti, moderated by writer Buddhisagar. The session touched upon the experiences of writers as virtual and emotional nomads.
The festival hosts eight different international authors and over 100 national authors, artists, politicians, media persons, intellectuals, economists, and sociologists among others in more than 35 panel discussions on a variety of topics.
The festival will continue till October 28. The entrance is free.
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