The Assam Forum of the Indigenous Society for the Promotion of English Language and Literature (iSPELL) organised a two-day Authors’ Retreat on December 24 and 25, 2025, at Wild Grass Resort in Kaziranga. The programme was held in collaboration with WissenMonk, Guwahati, and Timbuktoo, described as India’s first by-kids-for-kids young author publishing initiative, along with Storylines, its Memory Project.
The retreat was coordinated by Shyamolima Saikia, writer, academic and convenor of the iSPELL Assam Forum. The two-day programme began on December 24 with an evening session featuring poetry readings and songs.
On December 25, a workshop titled Stories from the Soil & Soul was conducted by Aparna Raman, faculty member and Memory Studies practitioner at the Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Bangalore. Raman is also the founder of Timbuktoo Publishing and Storylines, an inter-generational memory initiative. The workshop focused on documenting inter-generational conversations to preserve family narratives, drawing from childhood memories related to neighbourhoods, cultural rituals, natural medicine and changing geographies. Participants engaged in artistic explorations using thread, art and paper folding as metaphors for healing and meaning-making.
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Meenakshi Goswami, National Awardee Teacher 2022, retired principal and patron of the iSPELL Assam Forum, and Neeta Lagachu (Taye), writer and head and associate professor in the Department of English at CKB Commerce College, Jorhat, attended the event as distinguished guests. The formal session was moderated by writer, poet and teacher Sangeeta Dey (Roy).
The programme saw participation from poets and writers from across Assam, along with faculty members from various institutions. The event also marked the release of the iSPELL Assam Forum’s third anthology, Silhouettes in the Yonder, edited by Sangeeta Dey (Roy), Neetu Gupta and Shweta Sur, and published by WissenMonk.
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