Kathmandu, December 19
New York Writers Workshop (NYWW) has announced it will host its 2024 conference in Kathmandu, from May 22 to June 2.
Designed as the Himalayan Writers Retreat, the conference will feature prominent authors including Himalayan poet Yuyutsu Sharma, American poet and editor Tony Barnstone, Asian-American poet and Memoirist Ravi Shankar, and NYU professor and writer Tim Tomlinson among others.
The workshop will culminate in an international Himalayan Literary Festival hosted by White Lotus Book Shop, Kathmandu.
New York Writers Workshop is an internationally known writing programme and has held its previous conferences in Athens, Greece, Sardinia, Italy, and throughout the New York City area, with teaching faculty including prominent authors such as Forrest Gander, Kim Addonizio and Julia Prendergast.
In the words of New York Writers Workshop Director and NYU professor, Tim Tomlinson, “The Nepal chapter of the workshop is going to be a very rich, rewarding experience for its participants.”
“It’s a dream project,” said Tony Barnstone, Professor of English, Environmental Studies and Global and Cultural Studies, at Whittier College, California. “I look forward to revisiting Nepal to join this marvellous international event.”
The Himalayan festival will be a fusion of authors participating in the NYWW workshop and authors from around the world with a special focus on Nepali and South Asian Writing. The festival will be dedicated to the great Nepali poet, Gopal Prasad Rimal. A book of Rimal poems translated into English will be released to honour the legendary poet.
“The 2024 New York Writers Workshop is going to be a boon for the literary world worldwide,” says Yuyutsu Sharma, curator of the Nepal Chapter of the Conference and the Himalayan festival. “It is going to be the first of its kind in the South Asian region and usher new dimensions to multicultural literary discourse and bring forth a flood of creativity to strengthen the bond between creative writers of far-flung nations.”
The workshop will involve panels, workshops, readings, and cultural excursions and its outcome will be featured in Pratik Magazine’s Special NYWW Kathmandu Issue.
The workshop sessions will take place in Kathmandu and Pokhara, nestled along the serene Phewa Lake at the foothills of the Annapurna. Additionally, two featured sessions are scheduled at the historic Changunarayan Temple, one of the oldest Hindu temples in Nepal, and the sacred Pashupati Shrine, located on the banks of the Bagmati River.
A unique and special session focused on exploring creative writing through the lens of trance and initiation will be conducted in the presence of Himalayan shamans.
“To teach with the New York Writers Workshop is my life’s most endearing activity, I eagerly look forward to its chapter in the Himalayan nation,” Ravi Shankar said.
