Asia Writes

29 May 2013

Himal Southasian is looking for two Assistant Editors. The positions require the ability to support all aspects of the magazine’s production – both online and in print. This includes the ability to keep up to date with a wide range of issues related to Southasia, to develop story ideas, and to help commission and secure articles. Assistant Editors will also help run the Himal blog (currently being redesigned), select images for articles, oversee fact-checking, and supervise interns in producing material for sections such as Mediafile and Briefs. However, the primary skill required is the ability to edit ‘full length’ articles of the kind carried in Himal. Applicants have to be able to turn around article drafts on a wide range of topics, in accordance with the magazine’s in-house style. Besides foolproof competence in English-language editing, applicants must have a strong grounding in the social sciences and a keen understanding of Southasian history, economy, culture, geopolitics and current affairs.

Work Experience: Substantial editing, reporting, research and writing in mainstream media, though work with academic journals is also relevant. Experience in online journalism will be an asset.
The position is based in Kathmandu. Salary will be commensurate with experience and energy.

Application Process: Familiarise yourself with our magazine through the website, including its editorial content, then send a one-page note telling us ‘why Himal’ and suggest ideas on how you would develop the site further. Send CV, cover letter, and any full length article you may have published, to editorial@himalmag.com. Recommendations are welcome, though not required.

Deadline: Rolling applications

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Questions/ applications: editorial@himalmag.com

Website: http://himalmag.com

01 March 2013

Deadline: 31 March 2013

The Applicant is a Kathmandu-based English online magazine that features quality and unique writings which break the boundaries currently in place and is open to modern writings, in the form of poetry, prose, short stories, essays, reviews, interviews and photography.

Want to get your short story published? The Applicant is seeking submissions for an anthology of love stories set in and around Kathmandu to be published in a book. Submissions should be 800 to 1500 words. Stories must be original and previously unpublished.

There are no reading fees and selected contributors will receive a copy of the book. Please send submissions to alexandra@theapplicant.org or email for more info.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries/ submissions: alexandra@theapplicant.org

Website: http://www.theapplicant.org

06 October 2012

Deadline: 12 October 2012 (3pm-5pm)

Share your passion for poetry. A perfect opportunity to learn and collaborate on a poetic adventure with Yuyutsu RD Sharma, a prominent South Asian poet, author and translator.

• Venue: Tings Tea Lounge & Tings Lounge Hotel
• Address: Nursary Galli, House 322, Lazimpat-2 (just before Search for Common Ground and across Nepali Chulo)
• Registration fee: NRs.500
• Deadline for application: 9 October 2012

The reading session (6pm-8pm) is free of charge, but you need to apply and register to participate in the workshop.

Recipient of numerous fellowships and grants, Yuyutsu's works have appeared in Poetry Review, The Telegraph, Asiaweek, Indian Literature, Amsterdam Weekly, and many more. He has published nine poetry collections including Milarepa's Bones, Nepal Trilogy, Photographs and Poetry of Annapurna, Everest, Helambu & Langtang, and others. He has traveled extensively and has held numerous readings and workshops on creative writing and translations in New York, London, and Germany. Yuyutsu was born in Nakodar, Punjab.


Link: workshop application

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries: editor@ventzine.com

Website: http://tingsblog.com/

14 September 2012

Date: 20 - 23 September 2012

Nepal’s first international literature festival, the Ncell Nepal Literature Festival aims to celebrate the written word. The festival brings together readers, writers and critics, political commentators and academics in one forum to hold forth on important current issues–both literary and non-literary. Barely into its second year, the Festival is already considered as an epochal event in Nepali literary history.

“The Ncell Nepal Literature Festival is a paathshala. All of us are here to learn and exchange ideas.” That’s what acclaimed writer Khagendra Sangraula had said during the inaugural edition of the Ncell Nepal Literature Festival in 2011. And what a wonderful paathshala it had been with over 70 writers engaging the crowds with delightful talks for four days.

This September, Kathmandu will host another paathshala, which promises to be bigger and better. Over 90 writers from Nepal and abroad will attend it for readings, panel discussions and book launches and signings.

Get set to celebrate literature at its best. Get set for the Ncell Nepal Literature Festival, a festival designed to feed knowledge, arouse intellectual curiosity and sharpen rhetorical skills.
With its various innovative and interactive sessions, this is one event you don’t want to miss. All you have to do is, come. Come, unleash the power of words in your life. The entry is free.


Date: 20-23 September 2012 (4-7 Ashwin 2069)
Venue: Nepal Academy, Kamaladi, Kathmandu
Time: 11 am – 6 pm

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Website: http://www.nepalliteraturefestival.com/

01 August 2012

Deadline: 12 August 2012

To celebrate International Youth Day in August, USAID/Nepal, in partnership with The Week, Republica, and Youth Initiative, is pleased to announce an Essay Competition on the following topic:

Fostering Nepali Youth to become Champions of Reform: Designing a Better Future for the Country

As indicated by the specified topic, the essay needs to address the theme: The role of this country’s youth is undeniably important - but what, how, and when will this young generation play a more decisive, active role in the country’s future?

The Competition officially opens on August 1, 2012 (Wednesday) and ends August 12, 2012 (Sunday).

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT: This competition is open to all citizens of Nepal aged 18 to 30 years, living inside and outside of Nepal.

PRIZES:

• Cash prizes (for top two winners)
• Publication of the winning essay in Republica National Daily's weekend edition, The Week, as well as in USAID/Nepal’s publications including the monthly newsletter
• A chance to travel to the mid and far-west of Nepal with USAID staff for a first-hand exposure of ongoing development activities in the country
• Books
• Other attractive prizes

ESSAY RULES:

• No literary form other than an essay will be accepted.
• Only one (1) essay may be submitted by each contestant.
• Only entries in English will be reviewed.
• Submissions must be in .doc format and may not exceed 2000 words in length (excluding references).
• The essay text is limited to double-spaced, 12-point font, single-sided with numbered pages.
• The first page of the submission must be in this suggested format:
• Name of Essay:
• Name of Author:
• Age of the author (a copy of the author’s citizenship also needs to be emailed together with the essay)
• Author's email address and phone number:
• The actual essay must begin on the second page of the submission and only the title of the essay may appear in the body of the submission.
• The competition will be idea-based as much as it will be about creative writing skills.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

• Employees of USAID, their families or anyone else associated with this competition are not eligible to enter in the competition.
• Participation in the competition is free.
• IMPORTANT: By submitting an entry, the contestant warrants that the work is original, factually accurate, and must not infringe or violate any law or the legal or equitable right of any person or entity, nor contain material that infringes or violates any personal property rights of others or that constitutes defamation, invasion of privacy, an infringement of the intellectual property rights of any third person, or is otherwise unlawful. By submitting an essay, each entrant acknowledges his or her understanding of and compliance with these rules. Any forms of plagiarism or violation of these rules found DURING or AFTER the announcement of winners will immediately result in elimination or confiscation of the award.
• References should be included and clearly identified.
• To be considered, entries must be received on or before August 12, 2012. Entries should be e-mailed to usaidnepal@gmail.com. Place “USAID Nepal Essay Contest” in the subject line.
• If and when more than 100 entries are submitted, USAID reserves the right to stop accepting entries. An announcement will be made on the USAID website and official facebook/twitter page when the 100th essay is received. Review of more than 100 essays is beyond the resources of our staff and volunteer reviewers.
• Any entries received after the deadline will be deemed invalid.
• All submissions become property of the USAID Mission to use, reproduce, or distribute as it sees fit in its sole discretion, although authorship will be acknowledged. By submitting an entry, the contestant grants permission to USAID to use her or his name for publicity purposes, including, but not limited to, announcing the results of the contest.
• USAID reserves the right to disqualify any entry deemed inappropriate for publication, at their discretion. The decisions of the judges are final and non-reviewable.
• Prizes are non-transferable.
• This contest is void where prohibited by law.

JUDGING: Essays will be judged by prescreening groups consisting of qualified USAID employees, and then by a final judging panel comprising of renowned writers and senior USAID Mission staff. The review and scoring will take place from August 13 to August 21, 2012.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries/ submissions: usaidnepal@gmail.com

Website: http://nepal.usaid.gov

29 July 2012

Deadline: 5 August 2012

We are pleased to announce calls for submissions for Issue 7 of The Applicant.

For this special edition focusing on strikes, we invite writers and poets to submit their prose, short-stories, photography and poetry.

Strikes, defined as an organized refusal to work until a grievance is recognized, happen the world over for a multitude of reasons.

What causes people to strike? Are they effective means of expressing dissatisfaction? What are their consequences? Who is affected?

These are the sorts of questions asked in the highly anticipated film release of Highway this July, which follows the experiences of ordinary people as they experience Nepali bandhs.

Please have a look at our submission guidelines for word limits, etc., and send all submissions and queries to: editorial@theapplicant.org

The winning entry will be given a free signed copy of Internationally renowned Nepali poet Yuyutsu Sharma’s The Lake Fewa and a Horse.

The word limit for poetry is 500 and for prose 2, 000 words. A writer can submit three poems and one article at a time. We will be including Art and Photography in our journal from coming issues: paintings, sketches and photographs.

Please send your submissions in both Word and in-body [text] format . If you wish to include your photo then do send one. Do not forget to include your brief bio.

Alternatively you can choose to submit on-line for upcoming issues using this link.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries/ submissions: editorial@theapplicant.org

Website: http://www.theapplicant.org

03 July 2012

Deadline: 5 August 2012

We are pleased to announce calls for submissions for Issue 7 of The Applicant.

For this special edition focusing on strikes, we invite writers and poets to submit their prose, short-stories, photography and poetry.

Strikes, defined as an organized refusal to work until a grievance is recognized, happen the world over for a multitude of reasons.

What causes people to strike? Are they effective means of expressing dissatisfaction? What are their consequences? Who is affected?

These are the sorts of questions asked in the highly anticipated film release of Highway this July, which follows the experiences of ordinary people as they experience Nepali bandhs.

Please have a look at our submission guidelines for word limits, etc., and send all submissions and queries to: editorial@theapplicant.org

The winning entry will be given a free signed copy of Internationally renowned Nepali poet Yuyutsu Sharma’s The Lake Fewa and a Horse.

The word limit for poetry is 500 and for prose 2, 000 words. A writer can submit three poems and one article at a time. We will be including Art and Photography in our journal from coming issues: paintings, sketches and photographs.

Please send your submissions in both Word and in-body [text] format . If you wish to include your photo then do send one. Do not forget to include your brief bio.

Alternatively you can choose to submit on-line for upcoming issues using this link.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries/ submissions: editorial@theapplicant.org

Website: http://www.theapplicant.org

27 May 2012

Deadline: 15 October 2012 (and every 15 April for May issue)

Misty Mountain Review is a biannual online journal of short poetry published in May and November. We like short, beautifully crafted, philosophical poems. Each issue will have a small, fine collection. The poems will be reviewed by a group of poets. The journal is edited by Haris Adhikari. We also hope to have guest editors from time to time.

We are physically located in Kathmandu, Nepal.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS OF SHORT POETRY

We are seeking submissions of short poetry on the theme of ‘lies’ for the second issue of Misty Mountain. We are particularly interested to read poems that speak of such lies which make feel estranged, ruin relationships, or destroy lives. Please see our submission guidelines for further details.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

If you are interested in submitting your work, please follow these simple rules: Put “Poetry Submission - Your name” in the subject line of your email. Include your third person professional bio (4 lines max.) and links (if any). Submit your best 3 short poems per submission period. We ask you to send your unpublished creations. And no attached files, please. The tentative response time will be 15 days to 2 months. We accept submissions year round. Our deadlines: April 15 for May issue and October 15 for November issue. Please send us your work at - mistymountainreview@gmail.com

By submitting your work to Misty Mountain Review, you grant us the right to archive your work online for an indefinite period of time. You retain all other rights. Once the issue featuring your work has been published, you are free to republish your work elsewhere if you like. But any subsequent publication should note that your work was first published in Misty Mountain Review.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries/ submissions: mistymountainreview@gmail.com

Website: http://mistymountainreview.blogspot.com/

02 July 2011

Deadline: 9 July 2011

You are kindly invited to the Program.

Those interested to present their poems or other short literary articles in the pro-gram should express their interest by email to generalsecretary@inlsny.org not later than July 9, 2011. Children are encouraged to participate with their arti-cles.

For additional information please contact: 917 617 7050 or 646 301 5620

Place: Astoria Park.

GPS address: 22-58, 19th Street, Astoria, NY 11105 Public

Transport: N or Q train to Astoria-Ditmars Blvd Stop. Bus Q69

Time: 11 AM

Delicious Nepali Lunch will be served after the program at about 2:30 PM. A contribution of $10 per participant is requested. Proceeds will go to Bhanu Partisthan in Nepal.

Contact Information:

For inquiries: generalsecretary@inlsny.org

For submissions: generalsecretary@inlsny.org

Website: http://www.inlsny.org

13 June 2011

Deadline: 14 June (registration)

Picture this: you have old family photos at home lying in albums and/or dusty boxes. You may not recognize the people, the places, the times, the clothes, the hairdos, but you know there is a story waiting to be told. Come be a Nepali armed with photos and words, come tell these stories. Join The Nepali Memory Project to dig up, contextualize and archive your old photographs and remind us that we have more than just one history, more than just one story to tell. The Nepali Memory Project believes that history begins at home and hopes to unearth and collect stories from our personal histories, that will en mass shape our collective memory.


In this three-day writing workshop, you will go through your dusty albums and pick out three photos. With the help of your family members’ or your own memories, you will creatively respond to the chosen images. Facilitators will guide you in telling, writing and performing the stories behind each photograph in the manner that the image demands. You will be asked to do exercises that address craft issues of storytelling such as voice and style, and also carry a high level of discussion based around constructively critiquing your fellow participants’ work.

Photos and written texts produced in the workshop will be celebrated in the form of a digital presentation and reading. Venue TBA. Works will also be uploaded onto the photo.circle website (www.photocircle.com.np/projects/nepalimemory/) and be a part of a larger national digital archive used for research, socio-historic mapping and preservation purposes.

WHEN

17 – 19 June 2011 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
3PM – 6PM everyday

WHERE

Bookworm, Gyan Mandala, Jhamsikhel. Phone: 5013533 (Location Map)

APPLY

Interested participants must fill out an application form. Forms must be submitted to learning@photocircle.com.np by 5 PM, June 14, 2011.

LANGUAGE

Workshops will be conducted in both English and Nepali. Writers are encouraged to write in both languages.

HOW MUCH

Rs. 500 (workshop fee will include refreshments and all necessary stationary)

FACILITATORS

AJIT BARAL is a publisher, bookseller and some-time writer. He has co-edited an anthology of Nepali short stories in English, New Nepal, New Voices and published two books: Interviews Across Time and Space and The Lazy Conman and Other Stories: Folktales from Nepal. Until recently, he was with Nagarik where he used to coordinate the first stand-alone literary supplement in Nepal, Akshar. His writings have also appeared in national journals, international magazines and other book forms.

GAURAV MONGA teaches Literature and writing at schools and writes a little as well. He recently published a story in the Literary journal: Danse Macabre and has forthcoming work in the journals: Birkensnake and Zero Ducats. He currently resides in Lalitpur, Nepal but hails from New Delhi, India.

MUNA GURUNG is working on a large writing project, which keeps getting smaller. Her stories explore ideas of “girlfriendhood,” living in the peripheries of love, and food, lots of food. She is currently an MFA candidate in fiction and an Undergraduate Writing Program instructor at Columbia University. She is from Kathmandu, Nepal.

PRAWIN ADHIKARI writes and translates fiction, creative non-fiction, and writes screenplays for the mainstream Nepali film industry. He is a graduate of Whitman College, Walla Walla. He has been published in a couple of anthologies, translated two books, and has a few movies in preproduction.

Download registration form >>

Contact Information:

For inquiries: learning@photocircle.com.np

Website: http://www.photocircle.com.np

01 May 2011

Deadline: 11 June 2011

Global Federation of Nepali Literature is set to organise a worldwide open audio poetry competition in different phases.

A meeting of the Federation has set mid-May as the deadline for recording poetry in the first phase while the deadline for second and third phase will be up to June 3 and 11, respectively.

The result of the competition will be announced on July 13 – the establishment day of the Federation and the Bhanu Jayanti, informed Federation’s general secretary Biswodeep Tigela.

Participants of the competition could send their poetry to email address gfnl@ymail.com or skype address nepaliliterature by June 11.

Via: thehimalayantimes.com

Contact Information:

For inquiries: gfnl@ymail.com

For submissions: gfnl@ymail.com

Website: http://www.gfnl.org/

19 March 2011

Nepalese Society for Children's Literature
Go to website
Email Address: drspnepal@hotmail.com
Editor/Founder: Rambabu Subedi
Country: Nepal
Type: Institution

Description: Established in 1987 AD with a view to promote Children's Literature and reading activities in Nepal bringing together the writers, illustrators, editors of Children's books as well as publishers, librarians, teachers, and experts involved in Children's activities. Since 2006 NESCHIL has been the member of International Board on Books for Young IBBY and working as Nepal section of IBBY (NBBY). Nepalese Society for Children's Literature , an independent academic organization has been established to: (a) organize conferences, seminars, symposiums, workshops and lecture programmes at regular intervals and to encourage its members to participate in such activities, (b) carry out research activities in children's books and reading, (c) publish journal and newsletter to disseminate knowledge and information about children's books and reading, (d) encourage the writers, illustrators, translators and editors for the promotion of children's books and reading, (e) organize competition programmes for the writers and illuatrators of children's books and to honour writers, illustrators, translators, editors and publishers as well as the individuals for their outstanding contributions in the field of childrens' literature, and (f) promote co-operation among the national and international organizations engaged in the development of children's books and reading.

(Directory entry)

01 March 2011

Date: 5 March 2011

Time : 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Location: Jujo Mukti Tea Lounge, 211 East 4th Street (between Avenues A and B), New York

JOURNEY THROUGH INDIA AND NEPAL: Robert Scotto and Lu Wu with Yuyutsu Sharma

Robert Scotto will read his new work from his travels in India and Nepal with
Photographer, Lu Wu.

Yuyutsu Sharma will read from his new poetry/picture book, Nepal Trilogy (www.nepal-trilogie.de, Epsilonmedia, Germany), authored with German photographer, Andreas Stimm.

Lu Wu will project a selection of her photographs from the journey during the reading.

Robert Scotto was a professor of English at Baruch College, CUNY, until his recent retirement. His publications include a Critical Edition of Catch-22, a book on the contemporary novel, and essays on writers like Walter Pater and James Joyce. His most recent book, the biography Moondog, won the ARSC Award for Best Research in Recorded Classical Music and the Independent Publisher Book Awards bronze medal for biography, both in 2008. The second edition will appear in 2012. The forthcoming collection of poems to be published by Nirala Publications will be his first.

Lu Wu was a CPA specializing in international taxation until her recent retirement. Her collaboration with Robert Scotto on the India/Nepal photopoem volume soon to be released is her initial venture in publication.

Yuyutsu R.D. Sharma was born in Nakodar, Punjab (India) and educated at Baring Union Christian College, Batala and later at Rajasthan University, Jaipur. He remained active in the literary circles of Rajasthan and acted in plays by Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Harold Pinter, and Edward Albee. Later he taught at various campuses of Punjab University, and Tribhuwan University, Kathmandu. A distinguished poet and translator, he is the recipient of numerous awards, fellowships, and grants from The Rockefeller Foundation, Ireland Literature Exchange, Trubar Foundation, Slovenia, The Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, and The Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature. He has published eight poetry collections including, Space Cake, Amsterdam, & Other Poems from Europe and America, (Howling Dog Press, Colorado,2009); AnnapurnaPoems, (Nirala, New Delhi 2008); Everest Failures (White Lotus Book Shop, Kathmandu, 2008); The Nepal Trilogy (Parts I-III), Photographs and Poetry about the Nepal areas of Annapurna, Everest, Helambu & Langtang, 2010, with German photographer Andreas Stimm; a translation of Hebrew poet Ronny Someck’s poetry in Nepali in a bilingual collection, Baghdad, February 1991 & Other Poems. He has translated and edited several anthologies of contemporary Nepali poetry into English. The literary movement, Kathya Kayakalpa (Content Metamorphosis) in Nepali poetry was launched by Mr. Sharma. Currently, he edits Pratik, A Magazine of Contemporary Writing and contributes literary columns to Nepal’s leading daily, The Himalayan Times.

More information here.

16 February 2011

Deadline: 25 February 2011

The Literary Association of Nepal (LAN) announces its 2011 Annual Conference in Kathmandu, March 1-2 (Falgun 17-18) at Padma Kanya Multiple Campus, Kathmandu.

LAN members and scholars from abroad are invited to participate by sending in an abstract (about 200 words) of scholarly papers/research articles to the LAN General Secretary at the address below. Deadline 25 February 2011.

Conference Focus: Contemporary Nepali Writings in English

Contemporary Nepali writers in English explore the nuances of the contemporary Nepali life and consciousness and present it to the English speaking world through fiction and non-fiction. Following the convention or experimenting new techniques and themes, they have not only attracted a growing number of loyal readers but also received a wide acclaim from critics. Resonating to the contemporaneousness of these writings and the writers, LAN has decided to focus its annual conference this year on ”Contemporary Nepali Writings in English“.

LAN further invites its members/conference presenters to submit abstracts on a broad range of literary topics for general sessions including translation studies, general criticism, Nepalese literary history, comparative literature, teaching of Nepali writing in English, world literature, literature and other arts (performance, painting, music, theatre, film, etc) among others.

Conference Registration and Other Fees

• Conference Registration Fee: NRs. 200 (Two hundred)
• Annual Membership Fee/ Renewal: NRs. 200 (Two hundred)
• Lunch: NRs. 600 (Six hundred) only to those who wish to join the lunch.
• International Participants: US $ 50.00 or its equivalent (LAN will offer three-night economy hotel accommodation to international participants.)

Note: All participants and presenters will have to be registered.

For details/correspondence:

Mr. Sharad Chandra Thakur, General Secretary
Mr. Keshab Sigdel, Executive Member
Literary Association of Nepal
Central Department of English,
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu
Email: LANkathmandu@gmail.com
Telephone: +977-1-4333115
Mobile: 9841420781

More information here.

17 January 2011

Deadline: 28 February 2011


We are pleased to inform you that Nepal International Indigenous Film Festival (NIIFF) 2011, is being organized in Kathmandu, Nepal. from April 22-25, 2011. The festival will be preceded by a workshop.

NIIFF 2011 is dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the indigenous woman. The festival aims to bring out the sensitivities, strengths, skills, knowledge and wisdom that enables the indigenous woman to play a key role in holding societies and communities together.

The films will be archived at the IFA. Indigenous Film Archive is currently collecting information and documentation on different perspectives of the indigenous peoples of the world. It is hoped that the collection of films by and on women will contribute significantly to information about the status of and issues related to indigenous women around the world.

CRITERIA

Films meeting the following criteria will be eligible for the entry.

1. Films made after January 1, 2008.
1. Films made by women filmmakers or films about indigenous women (Directed by either male or female filmmaker/s)
2. The subjects and storyline of the film should be centered on women and should portray positive message celebrating the indomitable spirit of the indigenous woman

SUBMISSION

1. Submission to the Festival is open to all kinds of films: Shorts or feature films, music videos, animation or documentaries of any length.
2. There is no entry fee to submit a film for the festival.
3. Films submitted to IFA without filling out the entry form will not be accepted.
4. Films submitted to earlier edition of NIIFF will not be considered.
5. All the films in a language other than English must be subtitled in English.
6. A cover of a Film must contain: Title of the film, Full name of the Director/s, Duration of the film, the original languages of the film and Date of Completion of Production.
7. Publicity material

SELECTION

1. The selection committee appointed by Indigenous Film Archive will select all films.
2. The decision of the committee will be the final verdict and no legal claim to participate in the festival can be filed.
3. Indigenous Film Archive reserves the right not to disclose any comment or reason for not selecting films for the program.
4. A film, once selected shall not be withdrawn.

Awards

1. 3 members Jury
2. 3 awards: Golden Drum, Silver Drum and Bronze Drum for the best 3 films.
3. Audience Award
4. Encouragement Award for Nepali filmmakers - Cash Prizes for the following categories

* Best film
* Best Director
* Best Cinematography
* Best Script or screenplay
* Best Music

Format

Mini DV or DVD

Deadline for the Final Submission

No later than 28 February 2011 (Nepali year: Falgun 16, 2067). Films submitted later than deadline date will not be accepted.

Shipping/ Transportation Charge

All shipping costs of the submitted materials must be borne by the sender. And should be addressed to:

Indigenous Film Archive (IFA)
P. O. Box: 10487, Anamnagar,
Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: 977-1-4102577, Fax: 977-1-4260498

Website: www.ifanepal.org.np

Email: ifanepal@yahoo.com

Conclusion

Directors of selected films are invited to the festival. The organizers will provide local accommodation only.

Selected films will be screened at NIIFF 2011 in Kathmandu and nine other cities of Nepal within a period of one year.

The submitted films and publicity materials will not be returned. They shall be archived and listed at IFA.

A one day workshop on the Status of indigenous women around the world will precede the festival.

Please send us email to ask for entry form at ifa_festivals@yahoo.com if you are interested to submit your films meeting our criteria.

More information here.

01 January 2011

The Federation of Nepali Journalists
Go to website
Email Address: fnjnepal@mail.com.np
Editor/Founder: Dharmendra Jha
Country: Nepal
Type: Organization

Description: Federation of Nepali Journalists is an umbrella organization that represents all professional journalists in Nepal. It was established on March 29, 1956 (Chaitra 16, 2012 BS) with the name 'Nepal Journalist Association'. Its Founder President was Krishna Prasad Bhattarai who was the then Editor of 'Nepal Pukar Weekly'. FNJ now has a 45 year old history and over the years it has passed through many ups and downs. But now it has evolved as a strong organization. So much so that its member branches have reached 60 and over 3500 journalists are now actively associated with it. It has already built its own office building in The Media Village established in joint cooperation with the Press Council. The process of building the offices of its district branches is on. This proves that FNJ is no more a commonplace NGO.

(Directory entry)

28 November 2010

Dates: 10 - 12 December 2010

Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF), in partnership with Quixote's Cove: the bookshop, is organizing a three-day writing workshop with the English writer, mountaineer and professor Terry Gifford. The workshops will be held between 9:30 to 11:00 AM, on December 10, 11 and 12. The sessions will be held at the City Hall, as a part of KIMFF.

Over the three sessions, Proffessor Terry Gifford will lead workshops on writing prose or poems on "favourite place in, or viewing, mountains," leading to the production of a 1,000 word piece of prose, or a poem. Through discussions on guided note-making and heightened language, and through intensive peer reviews, the participants will have the opportunity to hone their craft of writing, and discover common passions to build a foundation for future collaborations with their peers.

The three workshops will include short lectures by Professor Terry Gifford, a short presentation by participating writers, and a round of critique by peers.

KIMFF and QC will recommend the products of the workshop--poetry and prose--to reputed national and regional publications.

A total of 12 participants will be selected through an open call for submissions on poetry and prose on mountains. There is a registration fee of NRS 3,000/- per participant. Interested candidates may send their poetry and/or prose to info@qcbookshop.com. The last date for submission is 30th November 2010.

More information here.

20 November 2010

Snakes and Fishes

The evening shadows extended and the bonfire surged and leaped towards the sky. Sachi, Preeti and the other children came away from their games and settled around the fire with the neighborhood mothers, and the mothers, sipping tea and scolding the children, began their tales of horrors and loves, scandals and myths, religions and ancestors, fishes and snakes.

Thapa aunty told them about her cousin who had given birth to twins – one baby a boy, the other a she-cobra. “The girl was really not all that beautiful when she was born, very dark skinned, I tell you, but you should have seen her later. They put her body in silk nets, decorated it with bangles and bracelets, and they pierced her nose so that when she went around the house the ring on her nose went chhamchhamchham and was so charming.” One day the she-cobra, hip with gold and jingling like a river, was heading towards the fields where her brothers and her father farmed. She had multiple tiffin boxes of vegetables and bread perfectly balanced upon her head. It was a moment when the world was chaste and stainless, uninvolved with guilt. But then a stranger sprang out from behind a tree and murdered the snake. “Stabbed her, can you believe that? Stabbed her!” He took all the gold, the bracelets and the rings, and left the corpse, bloodied and mutilated, upon the road. “For a while nothing happened,” said Thapa aunty, “but later that villain came down with leprosy and polio. I tell you, no messing with cobras.”

Rajiv’s mother had once left Rajiv on the terrace (“he was so small you know, born only in seven months”) and when she returned with a bowl of mustard oil for Rajiv’s massage there was a cobra at his head, hood spread majestically, protecting the little child. “Ever since then I have known that this boy is special but so far I have seen nothing special. He even failed his spelling dictation test. Who fails their spelling dictation test, you tell me?” And she shook her head.

The mothers shook their heads. The children laughed. Rajiv was to become the goat of all their jokes (“so small, you know”) for almost a season.

Edna’s mother was pleating her saree one day, “many years ago, when I was newlywed,” and just when she flicked her fingers to turn the pleats she felt something cold and slick, something muscular and long, move along the fabric’s length. She shrieked and the chiffon slipped off her hands and fell upon the floor. “And there it was girls! A cobra! A cobra tangled in my saree! I could have been dead, girls, can you imagine!” She shook her saree now, as though the cobra was still jumbled in it.

Asha aunty spoke about what happened the first night she slept in her married house. It was four in the morning and the women were already waking up. “Look at this,” she said. “Four in the morning, dark and warm, and waking up.” She was awake too, counting the stars through the cracks on the roof. It was March and much too early for roof-repair. Roof-repair would start in May. “ The entire roof could come apart and the sky itself could fall upon the bed but no repair before May.” Those were the rules of the village. Asha was tired with the day long journey from her village to her mister’s but she could not sleep. “I was ready to die but was I allowed to sleep? No. All my mothers-in-law, and there were half a dozen of those, were clinging and clanging their bangles so I would know it was time to rise and shine.” And just when Asha was about to get off the bed she heard her mothers-in-law scream into the dark morning. “Look at this, seven mad women screaming. Surpo! Surpo! Snake! Snake! I froze. Look at this, my ducks, my first night here and women screaming snake!” The men were up at once. Asha’s mister sprang out of the bed, “of course, he was sleeping with me,” and in an instance had a stick with him. “I was married a day and there was my mister, ready to get killed.” Then Asha heard the snake on the roof, right above her, moving in and out of the thatch. Her mister ran back and forth in the room, following the snake overhead. At one point they saw its tail. It fell through a small opening and hung there like a little sickle. Then it went away. “My mister and other men chased it off to the fields but they could not kill it. It was so dark they could not see. That is why I say, no use waking up so early, is there?”

Preeti sat with Sachi and was never quite sure if the aunties were joking or were serious. She had her own tales too, of garden snakes that struggled vainly to cross the garden walls and of snakes the boys trapped and caught in polythene bags, but her tales were no match to what the mothers spoke of. She did not know a single snake that talked and danced and went jingling down the ringroad or was chased into the fields by a mister. She looked around nervously, wondering if the dark thing she had just seen gliding away was the shadow of the fire or a black cobra taking its rounds.

Kanchi aunty told more snake stories. Kanchi aunty was not really an aunty. She was more than seventy but because she was not ever married everybody called her aunty and not grandmother. “There are snakes,” Kanchi aunty said, “larger than the earth, blacker than the night, fiercer than rivers. These protect the land and the skies. Lord Vishnu sleeps upon the largest of these. Lord Shiva wears the curliest one around his neck. These snakes protect the gods. They protect cities and they protect nations. They protect those that worship them and they swivel out of the earth to slay those who will not pray and will not bow and will not believe. They kill those who walk in the dark, fearless and full of mockery. There is no place for mockery in the land of snakes. In the land of snakes people put up pictures of the serpent deity upon their doors and offer to it bowls of milk and ghee and rice. In the land of snakes everything is a bargain.”

Preeti had seen more snakes in Ganesh Basti than she had toads and frogs. When she saw a toad, mostly in the monsoons, she immediately thought of the snake, hiding under the water logged fields, ready to open its oval, resilient mouth and swallow whole the toad. She worried about the toad, imagined it suffocating in the tight pocket of the snake-mouth. She thought of the amphibian, its bones cracking and mangling under the snake’s teeth. She imagined it blind inside the belly, hardly able to breathe with pain, alive for many hours, the snake stomach wringing its defeat like a piece of wet cloth, and juices – acidic and pinpointed – piercing the poor toad, hurting it some more for many many days. Preeti hated the snake and she feared it. She felt helpless before its secretive omnipresence. And yet the snake, glowing with stripes and crosses, exhilarated her and she imagined it under the crops, beautiful and easy, swimming like lightning in the murky waters.

Preeti moved closer to Sachi and almost climbed on to her lap. She was afraid of the bare ground. Kanchi aunty was telling them about snakes that were born before the universe. She said the universe sat upon a snake’s head and when the snake shook the universe trembled and quaked. The snake was born before the earth and at the birth of the earth the snake’s body was mixed with dirt so one could not tell where land began and where the snake ended.

Kanchi aunty told them about Kathmandu. “The snake,” said Kanchi aunty, “lived in Kathmandu before people did.” Once upon a time all of Kathmandu was a large lake, a bowl with walls of mountains, and snakes lived in this lake “like noodles in soup”. Then came the demi-gods, those who were not powerful enough to tame the serpents. They slashed the mountains and cut a gorge and drained out the water from the lake. The valley evolved then, fresh and soft, filled with dreams and hardships, and ready to welcome people within it. But the valley belonged too much to the snakes and some of them never left. “They only burrowed deep into the city.”

“Under our feet,” said Kanchi aunty, “is a colony of snakes, at once benevolent and filled with poison. Your job is to keep them happy. You must pray to them on Naag Panchami. You must put their pictures over your main door and stick them to place with cowdung, milk, and vermilion. You must give it flowers, milk, yogurt, and a small plate of rice.”

“The snake,” said Kanchi aunty, “is a cold animal. It takes centuries to warm up to strangers. If you are an outsider it is best to stay away from the snakes.”

Somewhere during the stories, between Kanchi aunty’s shivering tales of cities and galaxies and the few motherly protests against them (“really Kanchi aunty, all superstitions. You are frightening the children”), the sky turned from soft blue to gold. The fire, so far brushing the listeners’ faces with warmth and shades of green and orange, grew smaller and the wind caught up and chilled the skins and the mothers and the children began to leave, one by one.

Ma came exactly at seven to take her home and Preeti retold the stories, speaking quickly to her mother and omitting the boring ones. Ma held Preeti’s hand as they walked home and she told Preeti to be careful, to watch for the hard stubbles of rice stalks, to watch out for the crevices and furrows of the field, to jump neatly over the numerous cakes of dung. Ma told Preeti never to curve her palms to the shape of a cobra’s hood. “It attracts the cobra,” she said. “The cobra is always looking for a mate. And don’t whistle after dark. Better never to whistle at all, it is hooliganism and nothing else. But never whistle at night, the snakes come out then and they might mistake your shrillness for the shrillness of a beena. And don’t ever kill a cobra. They are always in a pair, even if one is away hunting and all. The survivor will click your snap and save your photo in her eye and she will make it her mission to find you and bite you to death, even if it takes her an eternity. A vengeful lot they are.” And then she started to laugh. Preeti looked at her mother, amazed at her lightheartedness. “Were you scared?” Ma asked, laughing. Preeti nodded. “You are a donkey, my sack of sugar. These are all fancy tales and nothing else. Have you seen a snake with nose-rings and silk socks on? Tell? Have you even ever seen a real cobra? Anything people will say. Anything.”

That night Preeti curved her palms and wriggled the shadow of the cobra hood upon the wall. The image swished and swirled and leapt at her, flicking its wire tongue, but cobra – black and moist – never came for the rendezvous.

She went to the terrace and when the sky – boundless and gleaming with stars – filled her blood with a song, she began to first hum then to whistle the tune and in the middle of the whistle she remembered the cobra, now out looking for a mate, and stopped. Then she started again, afraid of my adventures and yet too curious to let go. She whistled tentatively, with her eyes everywhere, ready to run, waiting for her tryst with the deity.

In her dreams she saw snakes mounted upon one another like wrestlers. They fell and slithered upon the ground in big heaps. They turned into stockings and strung from trees. They plopped, noodle-like, upon the floor. The next moment she was walking on a thin wall, a poised tightrope walker. If a snake tried to climb her wall she took out a knife and chopped the nosy, long, juicy cucumber into perfect fifty paisa coins and ate them with salt and pepper. They were delicious, like fish, these snakes.


Smriti Ravindra's stories have appeared in Invision, Of Nepalese Clay, and New Voices of Nepal. Her forthcoming works will appear in The Women of Nepal and Writers at Sea. She writes a monthly column for Nepal's largest selling newspaper The Kathmandu Post, and her book of non-fiction named The Bad Boy's Guide to the Good Indian Girl will be published by Zubaan Publication, New Delhi, in 2011. She is a Fulbright scholar in the US, currently pursuing an MFA at North Carolina State University.

19 November 2010

Deadline: 26 November 2010

International Media Network Nepal Pvt. Ltd., the publishers of "The Himalayan Times", is looking for highly motivated personnel for the following positions:

Sub Editor - Desk

No. of Vacancies : 3

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