Culture

By Marnie Baker, Staff Writer Honesty is a fundamental part of life and growth. It enables us as human beings to connect not only with ourselves, but with others. It allows for whole, meaningful relationships and a fulfilling life rich with discovery and freedom. But is it integral for writers to be honest, and what is the purpose of honesty in literature? Whilst fiction may seem to be simply fabrication or invention, there are often always traces of truth, however small, within a writer’s work. For writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin, honesty was a quality within his writing that he found inescapable. His goal was to be “an honest man and a good writer”, implying that the two are intrinsically interlinked. Alongside being a monumental figure in Black history, Baldwin rem...

By Suhana Limbu, Associate Culture Editor When I began planning this article, I asked my British-Nepalese peers a simple question: “What do you think of when I say ‘literature’?” They answered profusely. They recited writers, novels, and poems, but they were all Western-centred. Once I asked what comes to mind when I say “Nepalese literature”, I was met with a pause. After a moment of struggle, they admitted to their limited knowledge; many of their answers connoted ideas of ancient folklore, religion, and lost literature.   The phrase "lost literature" particularly gripped me. In recent years, there’s been a clear rising interest in Asian culture. Although seeing this representation heartens me, I’ve noticed that there’s no presence of Nepalese literature––how have we com...