Kathmandu, February 27
Scholars of creative writing from the University of Oxford facilitated a workshop on creative writing at the Central Department of English, Tribhuvan University on Monday. Amal Chatterji, an award-winning writer and tutor of creative writing at Oxford University and poet Nabin K. Chhetri, an Oxford graduate and tutor associated with Mist and Mountain Residency, UK facilitated the workshop attended by students of TU and other practicing and promising writers from outside. In the three-hour long session chaired by the Head of the Department of English Prof. Dr. Jiblal Sapkota, another professor Dr. Dhruva Karki, the coordinator of the event, introduced the resource persons and highlighted the motif behind the organization of the workshop. He reaffirmed the Department’s commitment to grooming potential writers and inspireing them to take up creative writing as a career. He said the workshop was a part of the Department’s commitment towards the same.
Instructor Amal Chatterji demonstrated how different versions of a story could be development from the same template by creatively altering elements. He also urged the participants to focus on the minor details of the fiction and to justify the need and purpose of every new invention the author maneuvers in a piece of writing. Another facilitator Nabin K Chhetri demonstrated how poetry could be used for creative expression of pain and healing. He also demonstrated how, by appealing to the readers’ senses, a poet can develop an effective piece of poetry. He read out some of his poems to demonstrate how personal stories and experiences of pain can be artistically molded into beautiful works of art, especially poetry.
Participants actively interacted with the facilitators and created instantaneous pieces of short fictions and poetry. Some practicing poets, including Santosh Kumar Pokharel and Rupsingh Bhandari read out their creations.
Speaking on the occasion, the session chair, Prof. Dr. Jiblal Sapkota reiterated the Department’s commitment to do everything it can to hone students’ creative inclination. He also promised that he would explore every possible avenue for further collaboration in the domain for the benefit of the students.
Besides student participants, the workshop was also attended by faculty members of the Central Department of English, including Dr. Anju Gupta, Dr. Mani Bhadra Gautam, Dr. Komal Phuyal, Mr. Keshab Sigdel, Mr. Dinesh Bhandari, Mr. Diwakar Upadhyaya Aryal, and Mr. Mahesh Paudyal.