Noted author Dr Easterine Kire delivered a lecture on ‘Literature and Representation – Opening up of Naga Universe’ at USTM on Wednesday.
The session with Easterine Kire was hosted by the English Department of University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM), informed a university official.
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She spoke about the oral story telling tradition of the Nagas on her, which was very much akin to the African literary tradition. She also said she owed inspiration from Nigerian writers like Chinua Achebe and Nadine Gordimer.
She also urged people to convert the oral tradition of narratives into written Nagamese literature. She took it upon herself to remove the stereotype perception of the Northeast in the Indian literary circuit, as a strife-ridden state.
“Thus came the first novel A Naga Village Remembered in 2003, followed by A Terrible Matriarchy and then Mari, Bitter Wormwood, When The River Sleeps,” she said.
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She also said that there was no conflict between Assamese literature and Nagamese literature, ‘rather both are interdependent and lot of Assamese literature had dwelt upon Naga myths, folktales’.
The discussion was followed by an interaction with the students where different aspects of NE literature were analysed.