Literary Association of Nepal (LAN) successfully held its 34th Annual International Conference on March 1-2, 2015 at Padma Kanya Campus, Kathmandu on the theme “Literary Silk Road for Cultural Connectivity.” The Conference was inaugurated by Hon’ble Chancellor of Nepal Academy, Ganga Prasad Uprety who shed light on the importance of literary activities in his inaugural address.
The inaugural session was chaired by Prof. Dr. Padma Prasad Devkota. LAN General Secretary, Mr. Khum Prasad Sharma, informed the participants about the two-day program highlights. LAN President, Prof. Dr. Shreedhar Gautam, delivered his presidential address. The Editor-in-Chief of LAN, Mr. Krishna Niroula, presented the LAN journal, Literary Studies, to the Chief Guest, and the Chairperson of the inaugural session. LAN Executive Member, Prof. Dr. Susmita Talukdar, extended vote of thanks on behalf of LAN. The Chairperson concluded the inaugural session with his address.
The first day of the Conference was divided into three sessions. In the first session, Prof. Hriseekesh Upadhyay, Prof. Dr. Arun Gupto, and Prof. Dr. Susmita Talukdar presented their papers on the theme of literary silk-road. The theme of the second session was “Political and Literary History of Nepal” and this session was in the form of panel discussion. The panelists were historian Dinesh Raj Pant, literary writer Prakash A. Raj, and researcher Ajay Bhadra Khanal. This panel discussion session was moderated by political analyist, Bishnu Sapkota. The theme of the third session was “Literatures from Far and Near” and the paper presenters were Prof. Dr. Ram Chandra Paudel, Prof. Dr. Rajan Prasad Pokharel and Mr. Tara Prasad Adhikari from Nepal, Mr. Hualai Li from China, and Mr. Khalil Hodaia from the Middle East.
The second day of the Conference had four sessions. The first session was again on the theme of literary silk-road and the paper presenters were Prof. Dr. Padma Prasad Devkota, Prof. Dr. Ammaraj Joshi, Dr. Hari Adhikari, and Dr. Dhruba Karki. The second session was on writing and the paper presenters were LAN Vice-President, Dr. Laxman Gnawali, Mr. Hem Raj Kafle, Mr. Bam Dev Sharma from Nepal, and Mr. Sher Bahadur Tamang from Japan. The third session was on the theme “Literary Potpourri” and the paper presenters were Prof. Dr. Deborah Merola from America, Mr. Bishwa Nath Lamichhane from Nepal and Mr. Manuel Blanco Luis from Spain. The fourth session was poetry recitation session and this session was conducted by poet, Mr. Prakash Subedi.
Towards the end of the second day of the Conference, LAN joint-secretary, Mr. Kumar Adhikari, extended vote of thanks to all the individuals and organizations for helping LAN to successfully organize the 34th Conference. The LAN President, Prof. Dr. Shreedhar Gautam, concluded the two-day long Conference by proposing the new resolution: “Translating Nepali Literatures.”
The Conference was attended by scholars, writers and researchers from Nepal and abroad. International participants were from the USA, Germany, Spain, China, Japan, and the Middle East.
The Conference was hosted by Miss Roshani Dhamala.
Kathmandu, Nepal