English Sahityapost
July 30, Kathmandu
PEN Nepal organized a book launch and poetry reading programme at Thaha Library in Kathmandu on 28 August, 2023. Manjul, a senior poet, writer and a founding member of PEN Nepal, was the chief guest of the event conducted under the chairmanship of PEN Nepal’s advisor Prakash A. Raj. Hungarian writer Oliver Siflis was a special guest in the programme. In the programme, The Himalayan Heads, a collection of stories and essays published in English by PEN Nepal on the occasion of the centenary year of PEN International, was released. Poet Bidhan Acharya commented on the book. Likewise, writer Oliver briefly discussed his writings and contemporary Hungarian literature. Senior writer and executive member of PEN Nepal Hiranya Kumari Pathak spoke about the background of her story published in The Himalayan Heads. Poets Bam Bahadur Thapa Jitali, Bishnu Bahadur Singh, Tank Upreti, Subasinh Parajuli, Jyoti Jangal, Rup Singh Bhandari, Nandu Upreti, Deepak Chowlangaiin, Devendra KC, Bhojkumar Dhamala, Nilima Maske Shrestha, Shiromani Dawadi, Tirtharaj Bhatt, Veer Bahadur Lohani, Tek Bahadur Laudari, Vidhan Acharya, Manjul and Bhishma Upreti recited their poems in the event.
The chief guest Manjul said that the poems of all poets are beautiful in their own ways and remembered the great role of poet and writer late Greta Rana and late Shanti Mishra in establishing PEN Nepal as a Nepalese centre of PEN International in Nepal.
Bhisma Upreti, secretary of PEN Nepal, was the master of ceremony in the programme.
