Chandigarh: Sixth edition of CCLF aims at developing interest in reading among kids

The festival, being organised by Dikshant School, in association with the Adab Foundation will feature more than 20 prominent children’s authors, illustrators, and storytellers, and will continue till February 2022.

Authors, including Ranjit Lal, Anita Roy, Paro Anand, Devika Cariapa, Vibha Batra, Nandini Nayar, Sandhya Rao Lavanya Karthik, and Evan Purcell will be conducting sessions for children aged 3-16 years.

The sessions will be held every month, and interactions with authors will be aimed at stimulating the imagination of children. The focus will be on various genres of literature, which includes fictional/fantasy, adventure, horror, thriller, biographical fiction, gender-themed adventure, mental health and well-being, and stories from the pandemic among others. The authors will engage in interactions during panel discussions, story sessions, writing/illustration workshops, film screenings et al.

This month, Shabnam Minwalla, who has won the Rivokids Parents and Kids Choice Award for her first book, ‘The Six Spellmakers of Dorabji Street,’ will conduct the reading workshop, a session on ghost stories, and talk about the book of bhoots.

Award-winning author Sandhya Rao, whose book ‘My Friend the Sea’ won the Ambitious Children’s Book Project award at the Berlin Children and Youth Literature Festival, 2005, will also be conducting a writing workshop in August. Rao will shed light upon mental health and well- being.

“The motive of the festival is simple – to enthuse children to develop an interest in reading books and in creative writing. The festival will include storytelling, creative writing, art and craft, talks, poetry, and dramatised readings. The festival will also include storytelling sessions in the Hindi language by some popular storytellers this year,” said Chatura Rao, festival Director.

Entry to the festival is open to all and children can register for the sessions and workshops through social media.