Although the curtain has fallen on this year’s Drukyul’s Literature and Arts Festival, its words, ideas, and inspiration continue to echo through Bhutan’s literary landscape. More Bhutanese authors are stepping into the spotlight. Of the ten books launched at the festival, seven were by local writers.
The festival unveiled a diverse collection of books, each rich in theme and voice.
Among them were the life stories of two remarkable women, Phub Zam, a trailblazing businesswoman, and Kuenzang Choden, Bhutan’s first woman to write a novel in English
Kunzang Choden launched her new book “Telling Me My Stories” on the last day of the festival.
She said, “The fragments are what my stories are: of my childhood growing up in Ogen Choling. And it has been years that I have been collecting the fragments of my life together, my early childhood memories.”
She became the first recipient of the Bhutan Echoes Legacy Awards for Literature, a recognition that inspired her to write the new book.
“And for this, I have to thank her Majesty for her generosity and kindness in recognising my contributions. And with this word, I feel it was the spark or stimulus which told me, “Do something, get on!”. Because my fragments were all over the place. So, immediately after this recognition, I found the new stimulus and the spark, and I started gathering my fragments together and putting them, working them into kind of a book,” she added.
Alongside her work were the books on democracy, history, and memoir.
Many of the books took years to write, but for their authors, the festival proved the perfect platform to introduce and launch their work.
“When I launched my book, I did mention that it is a dream come true because every year I see Bhutan Echoes come and go, and my book is not yet ready. So today I am so happy and I thank Her Majesty the Queen Mother Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck for giving us Bhutanese authors like me the opportunity to launch our book on this platform,” said Phub Zam, the author of ‘Walking My Destiny: A Bhutanese Woman’s Story’.
“Bhutan Echoes is a great opportunity for local writers and authors to showcase their work, introduce their work to international and regional authors, as well as to local Bhutanese. So, this year at Bhutan echoes, I have managed to launch my book, Drukpa Kuenley, The Sacred Tales of Mad Monk, and also introduced the book,” said Needrup Zangpo, an author.
Each year, the festival continues to inspire audiences across generations, young, old, curious, and creative.
“Seeing the Bhutanese authors inspired me a lot and motivated me in reading books and attending this program. I felt like I could read more books,” Depankar Baraily, a student of Lungtenzampa MSS in Thimphu.
“It has been a good platform for me to connect with good authors, good people, and also, when it comes to the panel discussions that I see, it brings joy to see a lot of things happening right there on the platform. We get to reflect well. Otherwise, for me personally, I think because I like writing poetry, I like photography and visual arts, and it has helped me get a better perspective in seeing things,” said Karan Bir Urao, a participant at the festival.
Starting next year, the festival will also honour transformative work by Asian artists with two prestigious awards: the Jigme Singye Wangchuck Prize in Literature and Jigme Singye Wangchuck Prize in Arts.
As one the Asia’s leading literary and arts festivals, it continues to amplify voices, spark dialogue, and celebrate creativity.
Devika Pradhan & Singye Dema
Edited by Sangay Chezom
