A three-day SAARC literary festival which aims at exploring the South Asian form of novel began yesterday at the capital. The festival with the theme, “Traversing the cultural contours through South Asian Novel”, will provide a platform to novelists, writers, literary critics, and literary enthusiasts in the region to share their thoughts and insights while also voicing their concerns. The forum will see discussions on how to preserve the art of native regional story writing as currently, most South Asian writers are influenced by the West.