Kathmandu, Dec. 21 -- This past decade saw a deluge of biographies and autobiographies, and a worrying decline in the publication of essays and dramas. The emergence of new and diverse writers, themes and styles was exciting. Poetry seems to have gotten more urgent, radical and performative; while writers are ready to experiment with issues and characters in fiction and bare their souls in memoirs, talking about things never revealed.

A profusion of publication houses, and writers being elevated to the status of 'celebrities', also meant better options for both the writer and the reader. Readers have grown increasingly discerning, and a writer must produce something explosive and out of the box to impress readers in the next decade.

Kah...