17/07/2026
Bhutan featuring the chiselled poetry and evocative photography of APWT co-chair and the sharp exploratory prose of former APWT Chair Ravi Shankar, is described as, ‘A two-way narrative that tracks the forward motion of experience on the road to transcendence’ – Diane Metha.
Part travelogue, part lyric meditation, part photographic essay, Bhutan brings together the work of two acclaimed writers of South Asian origin who travel deep into what is often called the world’s last Shangri-La, returning with something far more complicated and alive than myth.
Nestled in the eastern Himalayas, Bhutan has long cultivated its image as the happiest country on Earth, a kingdom that measures prosperity not in GDP but in Gross National Happiness. Shankar approaches that claim with wit, analytical rigour, and genuine wonder, tracing the country’s modernising monarchy, its Buddhist heritage, and the complicated textures beneath the glossy surface of official narrative. His prose absorbs landscapes and sacred sites without surrendering critical intelligence.
Sen’s poetry and photography provide a stunning counterpoint. Spare, musical, and visually arresting, his couplets operate as short flashes of organic form: obsessed with colour, texture, and the sacred. His photographs of prayer flags, monasteries, and mountain light carry the same lyric precision as his verse.
Together, they create a two-voiced, multi-modal portrait of a country at the crossroads of tradition and transformation – a literary reckoning with place, beauty, and the stories nations tell about themselves. Bhutan is available worldwide now from Amazon
