The Pomelo | Writing

Are you an indigenous woman writer or storyteller with a deep connection to land and nature?

If yes, we invite you to apply for “When the Land Remembers”, a writing residency that brings together indigenous women from across Nepal to reflect, remember, and reimagine their relationship with land, water, forest, and home.

Winter Issue 2024-25
Conversations with Nature

Whose knowledge counts?

In many Nepali communities, women have historically been the knowledge keepers of traditional healing practices. They were the ones who knew which plants to pick, and how to prepare, and administer them. This expertise was passed down through generations, with women playing a central role in maintaining family health and well-being.

Conversations with Nature

Madhusmita Devi

4 min read

At its heart, every story is a retelling but it’s how we tell it that makes it matter. Climate change as an antagonist seems to be one of the recurring stories of our times. But how do we tell it differently?

Rethinking the Climate Storytelling

How do we talk about changing landscapes, disappearing biodiversity, and the erosion of culture and identity without falling into the numbness of statistics?

Conversations with Nature

Shuvangi Khadka

5 min read

📣 We are calling for visual artists (photographers, filmmakers), writers, researchers or anyone who has been sitting with a story that wants to be both seen and read.

This is a month-long engagement held by The Pomelo(@thepomelo.co) and The Confluence Collective (@theconfluencecollective) in collaboration with Buddha Pada (@buddhapadainstitute) , designed to help you move from an idea to a publish-ready essay.

📍 In-person in Kalimpong | 23–26 June
💻 Two online sessions post the workshop
✍️ A dedicated session on pitching your essay

Applications open until 7 June.
Link in bio 🔗

Image courtesy: @shivamdarnal

[Photo essay, Family photos, archive, portraits, images, visual artists, writers, Open Call, Eastern Himalaya, Visual Storytelling, The Confluence Collective, The Pomelo]

Whose stories do we choose to share?

Last Saturday, indigenous women took centre stage and spoke their hearts out about their relationship with the land.

Indu Tharu’s words stayed with us, “Indigenous writing should not only be limited to the lush greenery of the Himal or the sway of wheat in the Terai, or writings used merely in political protests."

Indigenous stories must be written down, especially when histories are written from dominant perspectives and the stories of indigenous peoples are so often written for them, rather than by them. There is urgency in voicing what needs to be said, and reclaiming the words to say it.

“When the Land Remembers” zine launch was everything we hoped it would be and that is entirely because of everyone who showed up and showed their support. We shared stories, we laughed, we ate, and held space for each other.

Thank you for being there💛

🎤Join us at our zine launch event to listen to the writers and researchers in the panel: Who Gets to Tell the Story?

📍Alliance Française Kathmandu
📅 25 April 2026, 2.30 pm onwards

⭐️Meet our panellists:

👉Indu Tharu is a writer and tattoo artist from the Tharu community. As an indigenous Tharu woman, her writings, performances, and installations actively address the systematic erasure of her community's voice. She explores themes of remembrance, loss, and violence and their impact on individual and societal consciousness. Her works are particularly informed by the recent People's War in Nepal (1996-2006) and its effect on her family and community.

👉Kailash Rai is a freelance researcher, editor, and mentor with a keen interest in gender, social justice, politics and social inclusion/exclusion, minorities’ rights, and sexuality. She has worked as a freelance researcher in various development organizations in different capacities.

👉Tsering Tsomo Gurung is a fiction writer and researcher. She writes from own personal narratives and uses fiction as a medium to tell these stories. Having grown up in the Tibetan community in Nepal, she also engages with the idea of home and belongingness through her mother's stories and other Tibetan experiences. Currently, she is a writing fellow at the Open Institute.

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Winter Issue 2024-25 Conversations with Nature

Whose knowledge counts?

Rethinking the Climate Storytelling

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Follow us on Instagram

Winter Issue 2024-25
Conversations with Nature