Himalayan literature festival 2026 to bring global literary voices to Kathmandu

Kathmandu-The second edition of the Himalayan Literature Festival & Writers’ Workshop (HLF-WWK) 2026, organised in collaboration with the Ncell Foundation, is set to take place in Kathmandu from May 29 to June 5, bringing together renowned literary figures, poets, filmmakers, scholars and emerging writers from around the world.

Dedicated to celebrated Nepali litterateur Guru Prasad Mainali, this year’s festival will run as an eight-day international programme focused on themes including healing, consciousness, creativity, memory and cultural dialogue in a rapidly changing world.The festival will feature keynote speeches, poetry readings, literary conversations, workshops, masterclasses, film screenings and cultural excursions aimed at exploring the transformative power of literature and the arts.

Internationally acclaimed personalities attending the festival include Pulitzer Prize-winning poets Tracy K. Smith and Paul Muldoon, bestselling novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz, poet and translator Tony Barnstone, Himalayan poet Yuyutsu Sharma, Irish Times literary editor Martin Doyle and the first Brooklyn Poet Laureate Tina Chang, among other literary figures from Nepal, India, Ireland, Austria, Poland and the United States.Addressing a press conference on Sunday, festival organiser Yuyutsu Sharma said literature remains “the oldest form of healing” and described the festival as a celebration of Nepal’s rich cultural heritage and literary legacy.Representing the Ncell Foundation, Bishakha Lakshmi Khadka, Head of Corporate Communications, Marketing and Sustainability, said the collaboration aims to help preserve Nepal’s literary and cultural heritage while fostering creativity and global cultural exchange.

The festival will open with an inauguration ceremony celebrating the meeting of Himalayan and global literary traditions. Discussions and sessions throughout the week will focus on poetry, memoir, magical realism, artificial intelligence and creative writing, women’s literature, indigenous storytelling, trauma and healing, meditation, translation and the future of literature in the digital era.Nepali writers and poets including Sailendra Sakar, Narayan Dhakal, Hari Adhikari, Usha Sherchan and Laxmi Mali will also participate alongside international guests.As part of the programme, organisers have planned screenings of Irish, Austrian, Polish and Portuguese poetry films, along with cultural visits to heritage sites including Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, Boudhanath, Budhanilkantha and Nagarkot.During the press meet, organisers also screened trailers of poetry films including Clouded Reveries, chronicling the life of Irish poet Doireann Ní Ghríofa, and Wide Awake, a film on Austrian poet Bodo Hell directed by Carola Mair. A film by Stephen Bookas based on Yuyutsu Sharma’s 2015 earthquake poem I See My World Shaking was also screened during the event.