CHENNAI: American novelist Anne Lamott once said, “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” Chennai’s first Children’s Literature Festival, Rough Note - Literarily Yours, witnessed the participation of school kids from the city sharing their first works which were not only fascinating to read but also impactful.
The event organised by Droplets Creations and Quriosity in association with DakshinaChitra and Notion Press on Saturday also included the launch of the compiled works of the curious mind in the book Tales and poems of tomorrow. The fest received almost 8oo entries and was an opportunity for school kids to pen poems or stories of any genre.
Exploring possibilities
From childhood fear, sibling rivalry, pressures of school life to violence, the budding writers explored various themes for the one-of-a-kind-book. About the 63 stories and poems in the book, author and jury member, Prema Srinivasan said,“I have been working with children and books for many decades. It is so heartening to see many children contributing. I thought because of the impact of the visual media, they won’t be able to read or write. But I saw incredible works. Difficult themes were dealt with poetically.”
Inspiring new authors
Jury members including authors Indira Ananthakrishnan, Amrutha Satish, Prema Srinivasan, Yuma Vasuki and Prince Nawabzada Mohammed Asif Ali, evaluated works from almost 50 schools across all grades.
Ashwin Saravanan, a visually impaired student from class 9, Navadisha Montessori Foundation, wrote a poem about homelessness and got featured on the published authors list.
He said, “ When I read another poem about homeless people, I thought it would be nice to delve deep into their plight. I like to read detective stories and adventurous novels. I picked up reading during the pandemic, using my laptop.” His mother, Hemavathi shared that the early reader picked up reading from the online library for the print disabled.
Author Amrutha Satish shared, “Each story and poem took us on different journeys. They made us laugh, cry, and curious. That just shows how much all the kids are thinking and how much they all have to say. Writing is the biggest form of self-expression and I truly enjoyed reading all the works.”
Indira Ananthakrishnan emphasised that festivals like these are an opportunity for every kid and nobody should be disheartened if their works haven’t been published yet. She summed up,“Congratulations to all the next generation authors. Those whose work have not been published but have written stories, we must congratulate them also. Everyone should try to keep writing. I started writing books after I was 30. To publish my first story I approached Children’s Book Trust and they bluntly rejected it. But I did not give up and I kept writing. Now I am a published author.”