The eighth edition of IME Nepal Literature Festival (NLF), organized by the Bookworm Foundation and Random Readers’ Society, is all ready to mesmerize the Lake City of Pokhara from December 13 to 16.

For four days, the festival will bring together, by the Fewa lakeside, a dozen international speakers and over 70 national writers, artists, thinkers and public personalities for a celebration of words and ideas as per a press statement released by Bookworm Foundation.

The Chief Guest of the event will be Prithvi Subba Gurung, Chief Minister of Gandaki Pradesh. The inauguration on December 13 will be a break from tradition, with Anita, Mamata and Manita Sundas chanting hymns from the Vedas.

The Sundas sisters have laid claim to a skill that was traditionally dominated by Brahmin males, reflecting the positive transformations in Nepal that NLF aims to capture. This will be followed by a Keynote Speech on ‘Democratic Development and Public Accountability’ by Dr Devendra Raj Panday, noted civil society leader. Also a former Finance Minister and Finance Secretary of Nepal, he has published ‘The Idea of Integrity and the Universe of Corruption and Anticorruption.’

A major highlight of NLF is the announcement of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2019. It is the first time that an international literary award of such repute is being organized in Nepal. The prize, which carries a purse of USD 25,000, is awarded annually to South Asian writing. Says Surina Narula, co-founder of the award, “The prize and NLF share a common vision to promote and highlight South Asian literature, and there’s a rich literary landscape in Nepal which will hopefully benefit from this partnership.”

All five jury members will attend different panels at NLF along with the shortlisted authors and translators. The press statement quoted, Ajit Baral, Festival Director of NLF about hosting the DSC Prize, “The award ceremony, and its objective, sync with our aspiration to turn NLF into a neutral South Asian forum for writers, artists, intellectuals and politicians of the region to come together and discuss a cornucopia of issues, including those which might be off-limits in other parts of the region,” he says, “We are also excited to introduce a medley of some of the finest writers writing about South Asia to the Nepali audience.”

Besides the sessions with international speakers, the sessions in Nepali will encompass diverse themes: literary trends and transitions; battle of the genres; musical conundrums; homage to past litterateurs; poetic revolutions; children’s literature; the creative process and readership. Political and social issues such as future leadership; Nepal’s power and tourism sector; journalism and media in the present day; social mores and conventions; as well as the psychology of the modern Nepali will be deciphered during the sessions. Three publications will be unveiled at NLF, besides the regular poetry and ghazal sessions.