From duty to desire – Development of Nepali children’s literature (Zoom)

Anuradha and Sally in a radio interview in a local radio station in Western Nepal (2015)

From duty to desire
– Development of Nepali children’s literature

Anuradha is a children’s author from Nepal and has been in this field for over ten years. She is also an editor and a translator. She has been a key tutor in many workshops together with Sally Altschuler, among them several supported by the Danish Government. She has a Master’s degree in English Literature from Nepal and a Master’s degree in Intercultural Business Communication from the UK. Anuradha is currently pursuing her PhD in Children’s Literature.

Sally Altschuler is a Danish writer of children’s literature, who, since 2006, has worked in many projects with Nepali writers, illustrators and publishers developing children’s literature.

In the online talk, Anuradha and Sally will discuss the development of Nepali children’s literature, its content and illustrations in the 21st century. 20 years ago books for children were first of all very didactic, focusing on the importance of teaching the readers, what was considered important deeds, like obeying your parents, being a good friend to your friends, doing your school works and washing your hands. Interesting and exciting content that challenged the readers’ imagination and made them wonder practically did not exist.

Also, the physical quality of the books have changed from rather primitive prints to more appealing products.

In the same period, the accessibility has improved a lot, though it is still a problem in remote areas. In many areas, it is still quite rare to read for fun. What does it take to change the reading habits?

We will talk about how NGO’s and the Danish projects influenced this. Is there a flip side that we has a tendency to overlook, when we want to develop towards a Danish idea of children’s literature? Obviously, Nepal and Denmark are very different culturally, how has this affected the development?

The online talk will be about an hour – and take place in English language.

There will be opportunity to ask questions to our two guests, Anuradha and Sally.
Meeting ID, link and password will be sent to all members of Dansk-Nepalesisk Selskab prior to the event.

Non-members may request for access by sending an email to lone@nepal.dk, not later than Friday 19 January 2024.

WELCOME

Time: Sunday 21 January 2024 @ 15.00 Danish time / @ 7.45 PM Nepali time
Venue: ZOOM – meeting ID, link and password will be distributed from Sunday 14 January 2024
Price: Free

Left: Nepali child book cover from around 2000
Right: New Nepali child book cover from Kopila Kitab