This essay is part five of the author's "Contemporary Nepali Literature: A Bird's Eye View."
Modern trends in Nepali essay, like short story and poetry, began sixty years ago. Laxmi Prasad Devkota was the first true writer of modern essays. Later Shankar Lamichhane enriched Nepali essays with completely new style, feeling and strength. Krishna Chandra Singh Pradhan and Taranath Sharma too contributed substantially to this field. Another trend that became equally popular was a trend of writing humorous and satirical essays. Keshab Raj Pindali and Bhairab Aryal wrote many successful essays. They were witty enough in their writing to maintain balance between humor and their attack on social evils.
Contemporary Nepali essays, like other genres, are not aloof from the trends of the time. There is an eagerness to grasp new sentiment and novelty and to add new dimension in this area too. These essays reflect the uncertainty and chaos prevailing in the country. As per the number of essayists the number is not as big as that of the poets and short story writers. Yet there are a number of writers who have written great essays. Most of today's essays have happened to be satiric. The satire comes up in the writer's mind because he is bitterly hurt by the bizarre anomaly that exists in the socio political scenario of our country. It is natural for the writers to be affected by it because politics influences every part of state. Besides, there are some writers who explore other ever fresh subtle aspects of life. The names of these essayists include Ram Mani Rshal, Kishor Nepal, Banira Giri, Durga Prasad Bhandari, Lila Singh Darna, Abhi Subedi, Manuj Babu Mishra, Dhanus Chandra Gautam, Madhav Pokhrel, Manjul, Rajendra subedi, Sri Om Shrestha Rodan, Krishna Dharabasi, Gyanendra Biwas, Yubraj Nayaghare, Bhishma Upreti etc.
Last Modified: 11 March 2004