Non Fiction

Writing Nepal 2023: A Short Story Contest

La.lit | May 31, 2023

La.Lit magazine is continuing its partnership with writer Samrat Upadhyay and Indiana University, Bloomington, USA to organize the sixth edition of Writing Nepal: A Short Story Contest. The contest was set up to encourage new writing in English from Nepal back in 2013 and is open to Nepali citizens and the Nepali diaspora. The deadline […]

2020, Affectionately

La.Lit | January 14, 2021

This past year was an exercise in equanimity. Forced indoors under lockdown, quarantine or ‘shelter-in-place’ orders as governments scrambled to contain Covid-19, many of us eventually found ourselves on edge, listless and irascible. By the end of the year, we were spent. In such trying times, we turned to indulgences and sought comfort in that most maligned of disciplines – the arts.

A Song for the Caged Bird

Ankit Khadgi | January 1, 2021

These words echo Kunwar’s sadness at not being lucky enough to read queer stories, but with his memoir, he has paved the way, signaling to queer writers that their stories are equally valid. Kunwar sings a song for me, and for all those queer individuals who have been waiting like caged birds for someone to come along with a heartfelt lullaby.

A Twelve-course Meal

Pranathi | November 6, 2020

“Jai Grihasti!” The couple and their teenaged daughter Shrijana chimed this cheerful and familiar greeting in unison, their palms joined in a namaste. They’d incorporated this practice into all their trainings to promote the most basic principle of permaculture – “The home is the heart of the farm, all hail to this engine!”

The Wasteland

Sandesh Ghimire | September 25, 2020

A morning in June. Kathmandu Valley woke up to its monsoon nightmare to discover that the city had transformed into a latrine.

Yangzom Tsering’s Life Story

Tashi Tewa Dolpo | August 5, 2020

My husband was never there when I needed him. During our life together, he was away most of the time, crossing high mountain passes. He never really had time to spend with me, though his desire to have sons did rekindle the love we had earlier lost.

Bhauju’s burning questions

Sarita Pariyar | July 28, 2020

I stopped being insentient when I considered Bhauju’s life and began questioning my own mother, father and brother. In what way was my home different from the cemetery hill near the house? Why was it that my father – whom I saw as the most intelligent, good and loving person in the world – was like a frightening tiger to Bhauju?

A Dalit Mother’s Accounts

Sarita Pariyar | July 8, 2020

I’m no good at accounting. But I’ve kept accounts of all the little debts owed me by the village in a box in my mind. And when people say they love the village, it makes me laugh. It makes me want to tear Bistini Bajai’s blouse in the middle of the night, and shake the village with my laughter.

Line of Thought: Conversations on Nepali Art

Shefali Upreti | January 15, 2020

‘Line of Thought: Dialogues on Pedagogy and Personal Practices’, running at the Nepal Art Council in Babarmahal until Saturday, 18th January, 2020, intends to start conversations, some beyond pedagogy and practice.