Adaptation – Retelling, Rewriting, and Renewing
By Anya Shenoy, Grade 10 The excitement hung in the air on Day 2 of NLF. Some fresh faces appeared, while others returned for a fun-filled day. Of the numerous activities available, some of the most insightful were the masterclasses. Authors from far and wide gathered to talk about their stories. One of the masterclasses […]
A Masterclass in Empathy
By Devyanshi Chakraborty, Grade 10 In a masterclass led by Neev Book Award winning author Nandita da Cunha, we embarked on a journey into the heart of storytelling through the lens of empathy. This transformative session opened our minds to the power of understanding and harnessing empathy as a vital component in the writer’s toolkit. […]
Takeaways from NLF 2023
By Anaaya Kanchan, Grade 8 The Neev Literature Festival was a 2-day event packed with performances, sessions, talks, masterclasses and readings. Authors and performers from around the world and the country came together to speak and perform to a large and diverse audience, leaving all of us with a vast wealth of knowledge and experiences. […]
Growing Historical Awareness – A Masterclass with Hannah Lalhlanpuii
By Sanjana Garg, Grade 10 Participants at the Neev Literature Festival 2023 conversed with author Hannah Lalhlanpuii, whose debut novel When Blackbirds Fly was shortlisted for the Neev Book Award 2023 in the Young Adult category. This book, set in the early years of Mizoram’s two-decade quest for independence, against the backdrop of the Aizawl […]
Jyoti Rajan Gopal on Straddling Cultures
Sunayana Surana, Grade 10 The interactive sessions for children were kicked off on Day 1 of the Neev Literature Festival 2023 by Jyoti Rajan Gopal, an author of many cultures. Jyoti talked about the formative years of her life—going from one country to another and learning to adjust and thrive everywhere—she lived in Thailand, shifted […]
Unveiling the Literary Tapestry: Linda Sue Park’s Revelations
By Vaishali Basu, Educator Linda Sue Park: A Literary Force On the second day of the Neev Literature Festival, the stage was set for a literary luminary—Linda Sue Park—to take center stage. The Newbery Medal winning author known for crafting literary wonders for children from all age groups, Linda Sue has penned an impressive array […]
What’s in a Wordless Book? | A Reading of My Street
By Supriya Prakash, Educator A wordless book? The name seems to say it all—it is a book without text where the story is told solely through the art. Images tell the stories and they must be read as carefully as any text. Artists are literally writing with pictures. While similar pictorial choices are made when […]
Shabnam Minwalla on Inhabiting Parallel Timelines
By Kabir Basu, Grade 10 The second half of Day 1 of the Neev Literature Festival 2023 began with a most joyous and uplifting performance by Kapil Pandey, encouraging the audience to join in, sing and dance. The mood was set for celebrated, award-winning author Shabnam Minwalla’s session Inhabiting Parallel Timelines; an eager audience waited […]
Shifting the Focus: Centering Marginalised Stories of Colonialism
By Samantha Kokkat Literature reflects and constitutes society. In the imperial period, travel writing and adventure stories penned by British writers such as Rudyard Kipling did not merely represent India. They also built an image of India creating attitudes, beliefs and ways of thinking that legitimised colonial rule. Literature of post-independent India wrested the power […]
When History Comes Calling: Reflecting on the Roald Dahl Controversy
By Samantha Kokkat Puffin Books and the Roald Dahl Story Company found themselves in the eye of the storm when they announced that new editions of Roald Dahl’s books will be revised to make them less offensive. The move came after the publisher and the author’s estate worked with Inclusive Minds, an organisation that aims […]