Home Books Persuading Nepal to read

Persuading Nepal to read

Nepal Reads is being launched with an objective to encourage a culture of reading among the youths

Kathmandu, December 29, 2016: The US Embassy’s Book Bus is launching a new programme—Nepal Reads, on December 30, at Basecamp, Sanepa. The event slated to start at 4pm will include a book discussion on book These Fine Lines, poetry performances by poets from Word Warriors and Emtithal Mahmoud, the 2015 Individual World Poetry Slam champion. Also performing at the event are musicians such as Surakshya Malla ,Sakriya Mohara, and Flekke.

Nepal Reads is being launched with an objective to encourage a culture of reading and reflection among the youths of Nepal. Each year, the programme will feature two selected works of literature through which readers can engage in discussions and activities.

Speaking to the Post about the programme, poet Ujjwala Maharjan said, “We were inspired by the Seattle Reads programme and thought of doing the same here to inspire more people to read. In this programme we will select a book and conduct series of discussions about it for the whole year. For our first discussion, we have selected These Fine Lines. We plan on having various programmes and activities in different schools or colleges based around the theme of this book.” She added, “As we are working with Book Bus, we will also be travelling to various places to talk about this book. This programme is like a large-scale book club.”

These Fine Lines is a collection of poems written by Nepali female poets. The book features poems that explore their desire and struggle for freedom within the restraints of Nepali society. Interested participants can borrow featured books from the Book Bus, purchase it at local bookshops or conduct programmes being based on theme of the book.

“It will be very interesting to see discussions about These Fine Lines as it covers wide range of topics including gender issues, politics, nature and love, among others, “ said Nasala Chitrakar, whose three poems are featured in the book. She added, “There are very few books written by female writers and this book being an anthology written just by women will help inspire other women to write. It’s amazing that the programme is getting kicked off with the book.”

The organisers plan on expanding the programme further and conducting discussions on other books in future if the initiative is successful.