Himal Fiction Fest to showcase the next era of South Asian storytelling
The first iteration of the Himal Fiction Fest is slated to begin tomorrow. Aiming to highlight the next generation of South Asian storytellers, the online festival, organised by Himal Southasian, will take place between 12-23 June, 2023.
Over the two-week period, six original short stories by emerging South Asian writers will be published on Himal Southasia's website; the event will also host readings and discussions with the writers, along with other prominent figures from the region's publishing scene. The sessions, featuring writers and panellists from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh and India, will take place on 12 June and 19 June. Registration for the Zoom sessions is still open; links and a detailed publishing schedule are both available on the event page.
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The first session, titled 'The Present and Future of Southasian Fiction I', will take place tomorrow at 7:30 PM BST, with readings by Saher Hasnain, Ciara Mandulee Mendis, and Sidharth Singh. They will be joined by Kathmandu-based artist and illustrator Manjil Rijal. Tomorrow's panel discussion will include Sonia Faleiro from London and Afshan Shafi from Lahore, as well as Rifat Munim, Dhaka-based writer, literary editor, and translator.
The second discussion, scheduled to be held on 19 June, will include Karthika V K from New Delhi, Manjushree Thapa from Kathmandu/Toronto, and V V Ganeshananthan from Minneapolis as panellists. Kyi May Kaung, Deepa Bhasthi, and Shah Tazrian Ashrafi, joined by Manjil Rijal, will also be reading from their short stories during the session. The Dhaka-based writer Shah Tazrian Ashrafi's short story, "Joseph, our maths teacher", will be one of the original fiction pieces published during the festival.
Himal Southasian, "Southasia's first and only regional magazine of politics and culture", is an independent, (now) digital magazine which publishes commentaries, longform reportage, reviews, and essays; although its fiction publications are relatively more scarce, the inaugural edition of its Fiction Festival is expected to be a promising showcase of literary talent from across South Asia.
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