Christina Olivares, a Cuban-American poet and author of No Map of the Earth Includes Stars, is visiting Kathmandu for a week. During this span, she is offering a day-long poetry masterclass, Body and Place: Making Sense. In this masterclass, the participants will be engaging all their senses to create poems which make sense of and tap into place, time, body, and self. “We will play with abstract, lyrical and narrative kinds of poem-making, and participants will have the freedom to develop a mini-sequence that sensually locates a particular moment in time,” say Katha Satha, organisers of the masterclass. The class, which will take place on Friday, July 20, has limited seats available and the application is due no later than 12 pm on Thursday.

Katha Satha is also organising an intimate conversation, A Song Rises in Me, with Olivares. This is a free and public event that will take place on Saturday, July 21 at 4pm at Everfresh Café in Pani Pokhari. The programme will also feature, besides reading from Olivares’ latest work, spoken word poetry performances by five women from Word Warriors Nepal and music by singer-songwriter Ruby Basnyat. “This all-women event celebrates and lifts women in the arts across cultures, languages, identities and ages,” the organisers say.

Katha Satha aims to foster a writing and storytelling culture in Nepal by creating, supporting and celebrating writers and writing from Nepal.

Those interested for the masterclass should apply via KathaSatha’s website: kathasatha.org.np.