Kathmandu, May 14:

A week-long World Book Week kicked off at the British Council here today as various celebrities read out extracts from their favourite books.

Keith Bloomfield, British ambassador to Nepal, said the World Book Week being held by the British Council would help people discover the pleasures of reading and encourage them to take up new books. Bloomfield read an extract from the book Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry. The book deals with the plight of the aging parents suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and their relationship with their stepchildren.

Another celebrity reader, Kunda Dixit, editor of Nepali Times, read a passage from Bal Krishna Sama’s Chiso Chulho. Before reading out the extract, Dixit said: “I came across this book even before I learned to read. Back then, even while I didn’t know what the words meant, many lines from the book were embedded in my memory.”

The book depicts the writer’s anti-war feelings and gives the message of non-violence and the futility of war, the concepts that are still relevant, he said.

Genevieve Charbonneau, a lecturer of Fine Arts in Kathmandu University, read out an extract from the French book Le Dit de Tianyi by Chinese author Francois Cheng, while Peter Reid, education advisor at the Ministry of Education and Sports, read out from The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields.

Besides public readings by celebrities, other programmes scheduled for this week include an illustration workshop.