Kala Sahitya Utsav – 2069, the first major literary gathering outside Kathmandu came to a close on Monday, 12th March, 2013, in Kakarbhitta after what has been three days of engaging discussions on numerous literary, cultural and sociopolitical issues.

Unsurprisingly, the issue of literary divide between the center and the regions took center stage throughout the festival. Sessions including ‘Jhapa in Mainstream Press’ and the ‘Kathmandu and the Mofussil: A Dialectic Contract’ drew hundreds of listeners and led to passionate, and sometime feisty, debates.  At a time of a fluid national polity, the festival had its fair share of political debates, including one on federalism with noted politicians and political commentators like Gagan Thapa, Hari Roka, and Ghanashyam Bhusal.

The festival also hosted a couple of lively sessions on the revival of writing in regional languages, but seemed miserably short on issues of women and gender. The under-representation of women speakers on stage was glaring. The only session on the topic was the one on ‘Women and Nepali Proverbs’ that clearly failed to provide any nuanced commentary on what is surely a much needed discussion.

Photo: Contextator

The well-organized festival was very successful in introducing different forms of expression like art and photo exhibitions, and spoken word poetry readings. Members of Word Warriors, Nepal’s first slam poetry group,  gave a powerful performance that had the audience on their feet, applauding and cheering.

The organizers can be forgiven the few  shortcomings. One hopes that the next edition will only improve. But, for such an ambitious undertaking, the festival was undoubtedly a great success. Jhapa wants to be taken seriously, and wants a claim on Nepal’s contemporary literary legacy. Kathmandu, surely, will have noticed!