Nirmal Kumar Thapa Biography

Nirmal Kumar Thapa was born in Bardia in the mid-western Nepal on 15 Ashar,2040 B.S. I believe he is a born writer. He came up with his first book, collection of poetry Prabhat Pheri Sandhya in 2062 B.S. He has been a poet as far as he can remember-he reminisces. He wrote his first poem titled ‘Vatabaran’ as a young lad.Prabhat…was followed by collection of poems in English titled Crystal vs Nirmal. Later in his late twenties he came up with his novel Bijaula published by Rang Nepal in 2066 B.S.

From Prabhat…to Bijaula, there has been a huge transformation in him as a writer. His novel Bijaula does not follow the conventional methods of novel writing- in terms of both characterization and story-telling. His protagonist the ‘yubak’ [the young man] is not one person but amalgamation cum representation of many characters. And the events in the novel do not follow the chronological pattern but nevertheless are not anachronistic. The events described in the novel are everyday events you have read /heard/seen and the character/s- an everyman- you have known/met/ read about. But they are far from mundane- they are true to life.

After Bijaula he came up with another book Yubak in 2070 B.S, a sequel toBijaula published by Maya Publication, New Delhi. Yubak is his main protagonist in Bijaula too. This novel is similar in form when compared to its prequel but in terms of content has more colors, more dimensions, different viewpoints and perspective. This, again, does not follow the conventional method of storytelling.

This is written in a poetic prose form and though the events in the novel do not follow sequential pattern but however, the novel flows smoothly- it is analogous to being in a train journey in which the vista outside changes from time to time. He says Yubak’s experience is not his own only- it is about people he has known, met, read about and the collective memory he has of all these so it is not autobiographical as such.

After reading these two novels in series without sequence, one would be amazed at his word wizardry. His way of narration which is powerful as well as spellbinding, is reminiscent of surrealism of Shanker Lamichhane and his way of narration have reflections of stream of consciousness technique. Besides, you even find impressionistic technique used in his multi-layered characterizations.

Even his way of narration is unique in the sense that many stories are told simultaneously. His Swiftisque sarcasm at the dirty politics, wannabe singers, some living artists and authors, is quite hilarious and at the same time poignant. His knowledge of world literature is quite profound and this adds different dimension to his powerful writing. All in all, both Bijaula and Yubak are path-breaking works of art which will surely stand the test of time.

He is a multi faceted and multi talented personality. He is the President of ColorNepal[CNEP], a non-profit organization established for the welfare of art, culture and literature.

Under the banner of Color Nepal, he has directed and released the first audio-visual poetry collection The Colours of Poetry featuring eminent poets from the country. This featured poetry recitations of Late Ishwor Ballav, Prof.Dr.DP Bhandari, Ratna Sumsher Thapa, Prof.Dr.Padma Devkota, Shailendra Shakar, D.B.Gurung, Rajendra Thapa, Gyanu Walker Poudel and Laxmi Devi Rajbhandari etc.This first ever audio-visual poetry collection of its kind will certainly prove to be a milestone in the history of literature in Nepal.

He has been instrumental in organizing a poetry program in Gurukul in the year…..B.S. in which showcased eminent as well as budding poets, veteran as well unpublished poets from Nepal and most importantly, Nepali poets who write in Nepali and Nepali poets who write originally in English were brought in a common platform. In this program, for the first time these two groups of poets rubbed shoulders. In the meantime, the budding writers also got opportunity to present their artistry in this gallery of the greats. This program was unique and groundbreaking in the sense this helped break the barrier between these two groups of writers, belonging to two generations.

He had organized Rang Yatra in the year….. B.S. with a view to promoting culture and tourism through writings and even released a travelogue by the same title which featured the writings about the travel by the participating writers and poets. This travel also helped introduce the younger aspiring writers to the established, well-known writers in the country and the travel, togetherness the travel naturally brings, along with his role as a catalyst helped strengthen the bond between them; and he has been hailed as wonderful host by his travel companions; all of them say equivocally that he has played a vital role in bringing about this sense of togetherness.

Under his banner he had organized the poetry symposium of the duo Abhi Subedi and D.B.Gurung titled Poetic Oddessey in….. B.S. His organization released a poetry anthology in collaboration with poetry journalNavakavita to mark the birth centennary of Late Mahakavi Laxmi Prasad Devkota in ………B.S.; has held several book discussion programs which includes book of American Sci-Fi writer Alan Cole, Sushmita Nepal……. and………. etc etc.

He had held several poetry symposiums in the galleries of Today’s Youth Asia on several occasions. His organization has organized several programs in collaboration with Tanneri.com, e-magazine. His organization even released an music album titled Ateetwith a view to promoting the newcomersinger Kushal Rai. years ago.

He has been organizing Rang Nepal Samman every year for last…..years to felicitate youths who have given their notable contribution in the areas of art, culture, journalism, music, media and literature etc. The awards are given to deserving youths who have already made the notable contributions in their areas and more importantly, the idea behind the award is to encourage the felicitated youths to endeavour towards making more contributions in their respective fields.


He has also published this scribe’s collection of poetry titled “It’s all written in the stars! ” under his banner ColorNepal in 2068 B.S. He is planning to re-release the book by J. Krishnamurthy; At the feet of the masters under his banner, Color Nepal. He is also planning the audio version of Bijaula.
Apart from this his new books recently published from the Maya PublicationIndia banner, YUVAK a series of Bijaula and EKADESHMA a collection of short stories.
His YUVAK won the Non-Fiction Award 2013.

His contribution to the art, culture; and literature- both English and Nepali has been immense. The track record alone speaks volume about this. No wonder he has been decorated with several awards and accolades from within the country and abroad. He has been honoured with Young Achiever’s Award by Today’s Youth Asia [TYA] in 2009, Youth Ambassador for Peace from Universal Peace Foundation, Nepal in 2009 and he has also been a recipient of Paragon Fellowship Program, Hongkong in 2010.

[Presently, he is the Editor in Chief of weekly Shangrila Dialogue, which publishes only those news which are positive in nature or those that give positive message to its readers. In a world full of maladies and miseries, this comes as a breath of fresh air.]

-Sachendra Manandhar