22 September
Sahityapost Correspondent
The two-day ‘first’ International Children’s Literature Festival was concluded in Kathmandu with the adoption of a 12-point Conference Declaration. The event jointly organised by Nepal Academy, Nepalese Society for Children’s Literature (NESCHIL) and Room to Read from 20 to 21 September in the premises of Nepal Academy was inaugurated by Nepal Academy Chancellor Bhupal Rai, who was the Chief Guest of
the Inaugural Ceremony. The Ceremony, hosted by conference steering committee’s Member Secretary and NESCHIL General Secretary Bijay Raj Acharya, was address by Prof. Ram Kumar Pandey as the key-note speaker, while Pradeep Pariyar, the Chief Administrative Officer of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office and Pushkar Lal Shrestha, Country Director of Room to Read spoke as special invitees.
The two-day conference featured eight reading sessions where scholars read their scholarly research papers written on various aspects of children’s literature. The papers were grouped under eight thematic heads: Country Papers, Children’s Literature in Indigenous Languages, Grooming Young and Critical Readers, Celebrating Generic and Linguistic Diversity, Marching with Contemporaneity, Going Green: Children’s Literature and Environment, and Children’s Literature: Politics History and Culture. Scholars who presented their papers were Mahesh Pathirathna and B. G. M. Janappriya from Sri Lanka, Deepa Agrawal, Atanu Kumar Basu, Dr. Kabita Lama, Dr. Dipen Tamang, Dr. Tek Bahadur Chhetri, Ajit Kumar Patra and Tultul Biswas from India, Professor Hasannuzzaman, Humayun Kabir Dhali and Ratan Chandra Paul from Bangladesh, Sally Altshuler from Denkar, Brigitte Rozario from Malaysia, Moon Chabggil from South Korea, Liao Xiaoqin Peng Luirong, Zheng Liwei, Liu Dihong, Li Mengwei, Huang Chunhua and Wu Yiwei from China and Harohuto Nozu from Japan and Pramod Pradhan, Trailokya Man Banepali, Ganesh Rai, Indira Dali, Netra Dahal, Dr. Churamani Bandhu and Mahesh Paudyal from Nepal. The Conference also hosted two panel discussions on “Children’s Literature in the Digital Era: Shifting Dynamics” and “Children’s Literature and Translations: Urgency and Bottlenecks.” The former, hosted by Pratima Pandey had Shameera Rajbhandary from Nepal, Md. Zahidul Islam from Bangaldesh and Chhatrapati Fuyel from Bhutan as speakers while the latter, moderated by Monica Lohani and sponsored by the Translation Department of Nepali Academy, had Nabin Khatiwada from Nepal, Chulananda Samaranayake from Sri Lanka, Marleen F. Verbrugge from the Netherlands and Md. Jakir Hossain from Bangladesh as speakers.
Alongside these academic events, the Conference also hosted storytelling sessions for school children. Coordinated by conference steering committee member Shanta Dahal, this event featured storytellers form Nepal well as from abroad. Malaysian storyteller Brigitte Rozario and Danish storyteller Sally Altshuler, together with a few Nepali storytellers, entertained Nepali students. A parallel art exhibition was also hosted, displaying beautiful artworks done by Nepali schoolchildren and maintained by Nepal Academy of Fine Arts. Publishers dedicated to the production and distribution of children’s literature led an exhibition of books. These publications included Parichaya Publication, Bhundipuran Publication, Kathalaya, Kopila Books, Book Art, Bibek Srijanshil Publication and Khoji Prakashan.
The event inaugurated on 20 September ended the following day with impressions shared by Humayun Kabir Dhali, Sally Altshuler, Marleen V. F. Verbrugge, Tultul Biswas, Mahesh Pathirathna, Dr. Bishnu Kumar KC, Sunitee Amatya and Tara Nidhi Bhattarai. Nepal Academy Member Secretary Prof. Dr. Dhan Prasad Subedi delivered vote of thanks and reiterated the Academy’s commitment to give continuity to events like this in future as well. Academy Vice-Chancellor Bimal Krishna Shreshta seconded the Member-Secretary’s commitments and said his office, also taking care of children’s literature, would leave no stone unturned to promote children’s literature. NESCHIL Chair, Pramod Pradhan, who was the chair of the valedictory session declared the conference closed, besides delivering his concluding remarks
The mega event, supported by Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office, Thang Foundation, International Nepali Literary Society (INLS), Pahilo Paaila LLC, The Asia Foundation, Kathalaya, Shanti Volunteers Association as co-organizers, by Read Nepal, National Trust for Nature Conservation, Araniko Society, Parichaya Publication, Bhundipuran Publication, BookArt Publication, Bibek Srijanshil Publication, Kopila Books, Khoji Prakashan, and Jugal School as supporting partners, and Sahityapost English, Universal Television, Naya Bimarsha, Indigenous Television and Palika Television as media partners. The mega event, first of its kind in Nepal was attended by more than 150 registered participants from Nepal, besides 31 international delegates.
The 12-point declaration promises to stay united, cooperate one another in creation, translation publication and distribution of literary works for children, coordinate with local and regional governments and organisations for promoting children’s literature, stand for the rights of children and the creators of their literature, advocate for children’s education in their mother tongue, encourage translation and organise activities that bring the stakeholders together from time to time and facilitate the sharing of their insights and experiences.
