सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. Ncell Foundation ‘Nepal Literature Festival 2025’ is scheduled to be held in Pokhara from Falgun 15 to 18 this year. Like the previous editions, this time too the festival will be held at Barahighat, Lakeside, where literature lovers from home and abroad will gather, the company has stated.
Minister for Information and Communication and Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung will inaugurate the festival. The festival, with Ncell Foundation as the main presenter, is being promoted by Buddha Air, the company has stated.
The Gandaki Province Government is the co-promoter of the festival, which is being promoted by Pokhara Metropolitan City. Similarly, Nepal Tourism Board, Agricultural Development Bank, Global IME Bank and Prabhu Bank will support the organizers as sub-promoters.
This time, the festival is expected to feature more than 200 literary figures, politicians, writers, artists, journalists, editors and distinguished personalities from across the country and abroad. It will also feature more than 50 discussion sessions, interactive programs, musical performances and other creative programs.
This time, the festival will begin with a scholarly lecture by Professor and Economist Mahendra P Lama. He is also the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi Open University (IGOU) and the founding Vice Chancellor of Sikkim University, India. He also became the youngest Vice Chancellor of a national central university in India.
The Bookworm Foundation believes that after the scholarly discourse, a special dialogue between Manisha Koirala and Vijay Kumar on spirituality and struggle will be the center of attraction. Similarly, the cover and book excerpt release of Nepali cinema legend Rajesh Hamal’s book ‘Yug Dehi Yug Samm’ is also one of the various special sessions. Hamal’s book is ready for publication.
The launch of entrepreneur and author Jiva Lamichhane’s much-awaited book ‘Akshat Antarctica’ will also be the attraction of the festival. Whether it is Nepali cricket’s stalwart Paras Khadka or Bhushita Vasishtha, who is famous among literary enthusiasts, inspiring dialogues with personalities ranging from Dr. Bhagwan Koirala to Maggie Doane, who have made social service their work, will be held at the festival, the company has stated.
Maggie is an American social worker. She is the co-founder of a children’s home in Surkhet and was declared a CNN Hero of 2015. Nepali American writer Ranjan Adiga will participate in two sessions of the festival. The company has stated that there will be a dialogue between him and Bhushita Vashistha on his short story collection, ‘Leach and Other Stories’.
Her stories and articles have been published in Story Quarterly, The New York Times, Huffy Post, The Salt Lake Tribune, among others. She teaches creative writing at Westminster University, Salt Lake City and Utah.
Another form of creation, painting, has always been a highlight of the festival. In this edition, paintings by world-renowned artists of traditional Paubha paintings will be exhibited. The organizers believe that his paintings will add a special color to the festival.
As always, this time too, we will dance to the rhythm of music along with words. From traditional tunes to pop or a mixture of both genres of music will make the evenings of the festival musical. Among the musical programs, there will be a group performance led by Kiran Nepali under Project Sarangi. Similarly, Om Bikram Bista, known as the pop king of the Nepali music world, will also make the festival resonant.
The musical group ‘Sonagi Blues’, which gives a contemporary look to traditional tunes and rhythms, will also perform at the festival. The band, which started as a collective project of students from the Department of Music of Kathmandu University, has stated that the music of this band will blend Nepali folk, rock and Indian classical music.
The festival will discuss the novel ‘Comrade Jaljala’ written by senior leftist leader and General Secretary of NCP Masal Mohan Bikram Singh. This novel by Singh, who is 89 years old, is said to be the longest book published in Nepal.
There is no age limit for literature, education and reading culture. That is why the Nepal Literature Festival has become a powerful medium for children and teenagers to express their thoughts, creations, art and emotions.
The festival has been supported by both veteran and contemporary writers since its inception, says festival executive director Neeraj Bhari.
‘As we approach the twelfth edition, we have prepared a platform with the aim of encouraging the new generation of writers, writers and thinkers,’ he said, ‘From making literature a part of the curriculum right from the school level to our continuous efforts to highlight the role of teachers, parents and other institutions in developing a new reading culture.’
The festival will be accompanied by the launch of the Nepali version of world-renowned Indian author Shashi Tharoor’s book ‘Why I Am a Hindu’. Many of Tharoor’s books, an analyst of Indian politics, history and international relations and a renowned author, have received global attention.
We believe that with the support, cooperation and presence of all of you, words will come alive at the ‘Ncell Foundation Nepal Literature Festival 2025’ this time too.
After the Nepal Literature Festival was organized in 2011, dozens of literary festivals have started being held annually in Nepal, said festival director Ajit Baral at a press conference organized in Pokhara on Friday.
‘Such festivals have now gained popularity. Such literary festivals have started being held in schools, colleges, wards and even rural municipalities,’ he said, ‘In this Falgun alone, seven literary festivals are being held in Nepal. Literature and thought festivals are being held in Surkhet, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Dhading, Kankarbhitta, Biratnagar and Tikapur.’
Baral says that such festivals have strengthened our ‘public discourse’. ‘Public space’ is becoming wider and more vibrant. The credit for this goes to the Nepal Literature Festival,’ he said.
Ncell’s Interim Marketing, Communication and Sustainability Director Visakha Laxmi Khadka expressed her happiness at being associated with this festival through the Ncell Foundation as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility to connect everyone through art and literature, apart from communication and technology.
‘Art, literature and culture are our identity. It is everyone’s responsibility to preserve it. Our journey together in the early years of the Nepal Literature Festival was very good. We are very happy to collaborate again after a decade.’
Pokhara-based journalist and program director Keshav Sharan Lamichhane discussed the importance of literature and the Nepal Literature Festival. Giving examples of the contributions literature has made to society, he said, ‘Literature plays a significant role in the field of social justice, in the destruction and construction of values and norms. At the same time, it also works to mainstream the language, dialect, voice and cries of minorities, backward classes and others. We want Nepali society to become more tolerant, sympathetic, libertarian and civilized. The Nepal Literature Festival has been organized to support that work. Festival organizing member and journalist Bharat Koirala expressed his belief that the Literature Festival, which has been held annually in Pokhara, the city of events, has further contributed to the development of the city’s culture and civilization.
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