Karaikhola Flows

This collection of poetry recounts stories of Himalayan villages where education brings major inter-generational changes, promising freedom for women. Many of the poems centre on women's lives, bodies, and the ways in which they are free to encounter the land, or held back from it, while recognizing the different ways women are regarded, from goddesses to mothers hungry for literacy. The book delves into the hardships of lives in secluded rural areas, including such elements as child marriages, girl-trafficking, and the decade-long terror of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal. It further recognizes the sense of belonging while moving between places, and how one approaches, understands, and honours the land in which one lives. Karaikhola Flows is an attempt at cultural exchange with Canadian readers that speaks to all who move between places, who come from cultures that respect the land, and who respect women and their lived experiences. More here.

Saraswoti Lamichhane is an editor, translator, poet, and photographer. More here.