• It was for the first time that a large number of writers from the SAARC region visited prominent historical and cultural sites in Kathmandu to savour the cultural heritage of the Himalayan Kingdom. These visited sites were – Bhaktapur, Patan, Patan Museum and Pashupatinath Temple. The visiting writers explored the historical and cultural legacy, the ethnic beauty and also the cultural artefacts that are still preserved at the sites. The visits brought out that the cultural heritage and literature of the country had abiding links with the culture and literature of other countries in the region. In this way, the visit embodied part of the Conference’s theme ‘Striving for Peace and Cultural Connectivity’ in an apt manner.
• While people outside Nepal know Nepali as the principal language of the country, many are not aware that there are languages like Newari, Maithili, Bhojpuri and Tamang that are spoken by millions of people in Nepal and these too boast of a long tradition of creative literary output. There are scores of writers and poets in contemporary Nepal who write in each one of these languages and would like to share their creative efforts with poets and writers of other languages. It was for the first time that at the Fifth SAARC Writers Conference these languages were given their due place and writers and poets writing in these languages were given a solid platform and an appreciative audience to present their works.
• Yet another focus area of the Conference was highlighting the works of young and promising writers of the region. In the melee for recognition, the limelight is generally hogged by ‘established’ writers while the young and promising voices are sidelined. In the Conference, an entire session entitled ‘Young Poets Meet’ was organized to give these young writers a platform to present their works and to interact with both the young and the established writers of the region. The enthusiastic response at the session brought out the success of the venture and the gratitude of the young writers.