“The state of Nepal is a strange and usually little known country”, declared the Archduke of Austria-Este Franz Ferdinand in a diary entry from 8 March, 1893. This strangeness, of course, was due largely to the fact that the Nepal leg of his world tour was restricted to the far western Tarai (crossing the Mahakali […]

To occupy, among other things, is to fill or take up (a space or time), be situated in (a position in a system or hierarchy), hold (a position or job), take control of (a country). Occupation, thus, ranges from mere passivity to outright aggression. But the Oxford Dictionary of English also defines occupation as the act […]

Swedish illustrator and writer Sara Lundberg was in Kathmandu last week to hold an interaction programme with Kathalaya, the only organization working with children’s literature in Nepal. Lundberg debuted as a writer-illustrator with Vita Streck (see illustration below) in 2009, the story of a young girl who controls traffic by drawing white lines on roads. She shared […]

As part of Silk Routes: Heritage, Trade, and Practice a project managed by the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, La.Lit is happy to announce a call for applications for writers and translators in Nepal who can work from Nepali or other regional languages into English or vice-versa. Interested writers and translators are […]

Shrestha’s novellas contain a thoughtful architecture beneath their chaotic surface. There is humor there, and also a deeply felt, indelible sadness.

It was Sunday, the ninth day of November, a little past 3 pm, the kind of afternoon that reminded me of a drop of honey – shiny and sweet. As I made my way from Jamal to Durbar Marg, everything sparkled – helmets, windowpanes, even the street. Now and again I felt the breeze flowing […]

Rekha – Malāi thāha chha timi malāi sānchchai māyā garchhau. Tyesaile ma aru ko hāt bāta hoina, timrai hāt bāta marna chāhanchhu! Writer-director Rekha Thapa’s Himmatwali is a tribute to Rekha Thapa, the actress. Sudarshan Gautam, starring opposite Rekha Thapa, is an interesting accessory to the hallucinogenic landscape she has created. Like an origami figure, the persona of […]

In the beginning was an itch to move, to change you and your location. The Lonely Planet told you that the hardest decision is to decide whether to go or not. You are young and from the urban middle-class. You want to help but you are not sure who to help. You tell social media […]

I lived, for a while, in a world without words. There was only music and movement. And masks. Frogs jumped. One of them had a mohawk. He swaggered across the stage, swept his arms around. It wasn’t quiet in there; guitars strummed. But when the musicians paused, the quality of silence, when one mask looked […]