The third edition of the Ncell Nepal Literature Festival 2013 kicked off among at a ceremony in the Nepal Academy premises in Kamaladi. The four-day literary extravaganza will run from 25 to 28 October (8 Kartik to 11 Kartik, 2070). The festival, organized by the Bookworm Foundation and sponsored by Ncell, was inaugurated by RastraKavi Madhav Prasad Ghimire.

Inaugurating the program, Ghimire said, “from an age where we were banned from reading books, we have now arrived at an era where an entire festival is being organized for the sake of books. I am extremely proud to have been invited to lead this celebration.” He added that the festival would add an extra vigor to the identity of national authors, taking them to the international arena. Vice Chancellor of Nepal Academy, Bairagi Kainla, said, “This celebration is not only limited to literature, but a gathering of creative society and arts.”

Festival Director Ajit Baral said, "The Ncell Nepal Literature Festival is helping to expand the already expanding Nepali book market by generating heightened interest in reading and writing.  Explaining Ncell’s commitment towards the festival, Milan Mani Sharma, Corporate Communication Expert of the organization, said, “Book reading culture is gradually increasing in Nepal, and we are glad at being able to encourage this even further through this festival.”  Further highlighting the event’s significance, Keynote Speaker, Dr. Tirtha Shrestha, said, “The effort is praiseworthy as this is a gathering of Nepalis beyond caste, culture and any other superficial differences.”

The second volume of the literary magazine La.Lit was also released by  writers Prajwal Parajuly and Farah Ghuznavi during the event. During the first session, titled 'On Prayogshala', Yubaraj Ghimire, Mumaram Khanal and the author of Prayogshala, Sudheer Sharma, conversed on the book and its dimensions. The session, moderated by Jhalak Subedi, concluded that Nepal was indeed a laboratory of political and social complications.

This was followed by a discussion among Narayan Wagle, Subin Bhattarai and Sharada Sharma on the issue of the necessity of glamour in writing. The panelists, aided by moderator Basanta Basnet, concluded that writing was glamorous in itself, but needed to be attractively packaged for best results. Simultaneously, international authors Prajwal Parajuly and Farah Ghuznavi along with Rabi Thapa discussed on the techniques of writing along with the publication of short fiction and its popularity versus the novel.

Readers with varied interests enjoyed the discussion focused on Prakash Iyer's bestseller 'The Winning Habit' conducted by Anil K Shah. More literary readers attended the session between Abhi Subedi and Khagendra Sangraula about the role of a writer in the eyes of a writer in today's world. The session was moderated by Shekhar Kharel.

Meanwhile, the last session of day one drew in the maximum number of enthusiasts, who attended the discussion among writers Upendra Subba, Kumar Nagarkoti and Sanjeev Upreti moderated by Buddhisagar. The session, titled 'Tin Yayabar' touched upon the experiences of writers as virtual and emotional nomads.

According to press release, the festival will host 8 different international authors and above 100 national authors, artists, politicians, media persons, intellectuals, economists, sociologists among others in more than 35 panel discussions on a variety of topics.

The international writers includeShobhaa De, Ravinder Singh, PrajwalParajuly, PrakashIyer, AnniZaidi and Abhay K. from India, Ned Beauman from UK and Farah Ghuznavi from Bangladesh. The national panel includes authors, artists, professionals like AbhiSubedi, AkhileshUpadhyay, Sudheer Sharma, Sharada Sharma, Vijay K. Panday, Anil Shah, Anil Chitrakar, Ramesh Kharel, Nayan Raj Pandey, HariBanshaAcharya, Madan Krishna Shrestha, Rajesh Hamal, YubarajGhimire, SaraswotiPratikshya andShakuntala Joshi to name a few.