A scene from the Neev Literature Festival’s first edition. This year, the jury, which consists of educators, writers and librarians, shortlisted 22 books from 94 entries
Children's literary festivals are a Disneyland of books. Amid the bunting and balloons, stories and characters leap off the page in dramatic readings and performances. One Indian festival, however, believes that there is scope to do much more with the format. Hosted by Neev Academy, an International Baccalaureate school in Yemalur, Bengaluru, the year-old Neev Literature Festival pushes the boundaries by focussing not just on children, but also parents, teachers, librarians and educators, drawing them into a conversation about reading, writing, and everything else attached to the spine.
It was conceived by the founder of the school, Kavita Gupta Sabharwal, “with the goals of growing readers for life, and making reading part of every home”. The second edition has rounded up 67 speakers and workshop leaders from India and abroad — more than double last year’s count. A new addition this year is a day dedicated to teachers and librarians, with workshops on subjects like curating libraries and unlearning gender stereotypes.
Activities for children include book readings and workshops on subjects like character sketching, poetry-writing and picture books. Day three of the festival, which is open to the public, will feature nine panel discussions and 13 interactive sessions on inclusiveness, history, mythology and nature
This year, the festival unveils its annual book award, with a citation and cash prize of ₹1,00,000 for the winners in three categories — picture books, young readers and young adults. A nine-person jury, consisting of educators, writers and three librarians, shortlisted 22 books from a longlist of 94 entries.
‘Why is children’s literature a side show?’— Kavita Gupta Sabharwal, Co-founder of Neev Literature Festival
It was what she could not find at popular Indian literary festivals that drove Sabharwal to conceive of NLF. “We do a grand adult lit fest in Jaipur,” she says. “Why then must children’s literature be a side show that has no lasting impact? Maybe children need a dedicated forum.”
Putting together the programme for such an initiative was an immersive exercise in listening, analysing and synthesising what mattered to children, parents, educators and publishers. “Clustering broad themes for dialogue and conversations helped,” she admits. “This is when publishers like Tulika became important partners, creating access to speakers.”
Encourage book-based conversations with children’ — Dalbir Kaur Madan, Founder of Amritsar and Delhi-based One Up Library and bookstore
Kaur Madan’s session at the festival will talk about how book matching and independent conferencing can create a success story with dormant readers. “Parents should encourage book-based conversations with their children,” she shares. Other tips include surrounding children with books, and visiting libraries and bookstores. “Encourage family reading time and take active interest in your child's reading beyond school curricula. And most importantly, never stop asking, "What are we reading today?"
Parents are volunteering at this festival too’ — Ameen Haque, Co-organiser of the festival and founder of Storywallahs
Haque’s daughters, aged 10 and 12, are students at Neev, and the story coach has often plied his trade at their school. “For the Neev Lit Fest, since Kavita and other teachers knew that I was a storyteller, they reached out to me,” he shares. “Last year, I just dove in, calling up authors I knew, connecting the school to poets and storytellers, inviting illustrators to the festival and so on,” he says
Other parents, like Rasil Ahuja, are pitching in too. “She is a published author and is driving the connections with publishers and bookstores,” shares Haque. “Others are volunteering on site, accompanying authors, manning bookstores, libraries, and other festival venues.”
Children’s literature in India is waking up’ — Shabnam Minwalla, Author
Minwalla’s fifth book, What Maya Saw — a thriller about the shadowy secrets of a college — is in the running for the Best Young Adult book award. “I am thrilled about the Neev Award,” she says. “Knowing that someone out there is reading and appreciating our work pushes us to take risks and be adventurous with our stories.”
A former journalist, Minwalla is relieved about the rising interest in children's writing in India. “There are many lit fests that focus on children's books today: Bookaroo and Peek-A-Book are just a few,” she shares. “The once-sleepy world of children's literature in India is definitely waking up.”
‘Indian authors are experimenting with language and form’ — Maya Thiagarajan, Educator and Award juror
Thiagarajan believes that Neev’s shortlist is richly varied. “Many of the books help readers think deeply about social issues in India,” she shares. She believes Indian children today are readers of high-quality writing that reflects their world, and feels it is important for young readers to see themselves and their world in stories. “I wish that I had had a more diverse range of books and characters as a child,” she says, “When I was growing up, I don't remember having access to Indian literature. Unfortunately, my reading diet was completely Western, and this certainly influenced whose stories I thought were worth telling.”
1
/
3
From September 27-29 at the Neev Academy, Bengaluru. Details: neevliteraturefestival.org
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.