Kathmandu–Kalinga Literary Festival underway

Kathmandu, June 6: The fourth edition of the Kathmandu Kalinga Literary Festival (KLF) began today.     

Centered around the theme "Beyond Borders: South Asian Literature in a Changing World," the organizers shared that the festival features the participation of litterateurs, writers, researchers, and cultural personalities from various South Asian countries, including Nepal.     

Speaking as the chief guest of the event, former Prime Minister Sushila Karki described literature as not merely a product of imagination, but an expression of society, experience, and human emotion—a belief that continues to drive her writing journey. She shared that she transformed her own experiences and observations into literature.     

Addressing the inaugural session, Festival Director Ranjana Niraula stated that literature is not confined merely to words and books; rather, it offers an opportunity to celebrate a shared invocation of thoughts, culture, memory, empathy, and human potential.     

She noted that the festival is not just a gathering for a literary event, but a shared platform to foster intimacy and mutual understanding among people.     

Organized with the objective of promoting the exchange of South Asian literature, culture, and thought, the festival is envisioned to further strengthen regional cooperation and dialogue.     

On the occasion, Rashmi Ranjan Parida, the founder director and curator of the festival, informed that the fourth edition is featuring panel discussions, keynote addresses, poetry recitations, musical performances, interactive sessions with authors, book launches, workshops, a cultural evening, and cross-border literary collaboration programs.     

Distinguished participants in this edition include celebrated singer Ila Arun, author Pratibha Ray, renowned actor, lyricist, and writer Piyush Mishra, writer and filmmaker Raj Shekhar, and spiritual personality Acharya Prashant.     

Similarly, Vikas Swarup, Paramita Satpathy, Upendranath Behera, Badri Narayan, Neena Verma, Archana Singh, Jaiprakash Pandey, Kula Saikia, Malini Awasthi, Narayani Basu, Satish Padmanabhan, Yatindra Mishra, Sandeep Singh, Vikram Sampath, Anant Vijay, Yatish Kumar, Buddhisagar, Ashutosh Agnihotri, Sujit Kumar, and Yunus Khan are also participating in the festival.     

Director Parida stated that the festival will explore how South Asian literature, art, and intellectual traditions converse with today’s global context, cultural shifts, identity, inclusivity, spirituality, and social change.     

As one of India’s premier international literary festivals, KLF has been organizing its Kathmandu edition since 2022. According to the organizers, the objective of the festival is to further fortify the literary, cultural, spiritual, and civilizational ties among Nepal, India, and other South Asian countries.(RSS)