Queen of the hills

Kohima-born and Norway-based award-winning author Easterine Kire, 63, has taken Naga literature to a global readership

- Lubna Salim

Novelist and poet Easterine Kire is trying to balance book events and time with family these days, following the release of her latest work, Spirit Nights.

"It was at least four-and-a-half years ago that I heard the story of Chang Naga village falling under a curse of darkness for a period of time. It fascinated me and I began my book from there, using that story as seed," says the Norway-based author, who hails from Kohima, Nagaland.

"I have been living in Norway for more than 15 years and my stay began with a residency as guest writer of the Municipality and the University of Tromsø and Norwegian PEN," she shares.

Prize of a lifetime

In 2003, Easterine wrote the first Naga novel in English, titled A Naga Village Remembered. In 2015, she was awarded the Hindu Prize for Best Fiction for When the River Sleeps. She has written immensely popular and award-winning children's literature, too, and her book Son of the Thundercloud was awarded the Tata Book of the Year Award (2017) and the Bal Sahitya Puraskar (2018).