Int'l Literary Festival concludes in Nepal

Organized at the Patan Durbar Square, one of the ancient palace of Nepal, the three day festival of International literary Jatra ended on Sunday late in the evening. Three days of the festival became a fiesta for the literature lovers, writers, photographers, international writers, fans, readers, teachers, students and so on. The festival that ran for hours all the days was always packed with a large presence of youths as well as prominent writers, artists, young politicians and journalists. The writers like Tarun Tejpal, Patrick French, Mohammed Hanif and many others was a boon to Nepali audience who are much into reading these days. Talking to Xinhua on Sunday, Suvani Singh, festival director said that the festival was very successful as they had anticipated. "There were large swathes of people present in all of the sessions, around 300 in each session which encouraged us to continue this festival every year," Singh said. She added that the international writers loved the Patan Durbar Square for its serenity and artistic touch. The festival had discussions on writing, reading, language, women, politics, future of Nepali literature, social media and more others. It also included readings, workshops and thematic discussions on various topics pertaining to Nepal and South Asia in both socio- political and literary context. Talking to Xinhua, Kishor K. Sharma, a freelance photographer who attended almost all of the sessions in the festival said that he couldn't express in words how much he liked the festival. "The presence of national and international literary personalities and their intellectual talks had made my attachment to literature even better," he said, adding "I am a literature lover and this festival has been a treat for me." CP Aryal, a literature student told Xinhua that he wanted the festival to happen twice a year in Nepal to provide a platform for Nepali literature. He added that the organizers had to bring some of the wide read artist like Chetan Bhagat or Arundhoti Roy. "But those who came was a blessing for us like literature lovers," he added. The festival, the first of its kind in Nepal which hosted 30 national and 10 international writers and poets, succeeded in its major objective to provide a platform for literature of Nepal to engage with its international counterparts and it also seeks to take Nepali literature onto the global stage.