Bhutan is a Buddhist nation that sits wedged between Nepal, Bangladesh, and China. Their literary traditions are steeped in Buddhist influence, and can be traced back to as early as the 7th century.

Bhutan’s transition to written literature came fairly late, in the early 20th century, with a true litrerary culture not developing until the 1950s. Today the culture of reading in Bhutan is still somewhat limited and heavily influenced by Buddhism, which lends itself to folklore and poetry.

Somewhat surprisingly, Bhutan also has a strong tradition of writing biographies.

Another challenge of the literary culture in Bhutan is the wide variety of languages spoken in the country. Out of 18 different languages spoken in the country, only 3 are “literary” languages: Nepali, Lepcha, and the native Bhutan language, Dzongkha.

Because all of these factors, finding English translations of works from Bhutanese authors can be challenging.