Dikshant School and Adab Foundation to organize Chandigarh Children’s Literature Festival

Chandigarh: Dikshant School, in association with the Adab Foundation - a not-for-profit organsation focused on promoting art & culture, is organizing the 6th Edition of Chandigarh Children’s Literature Festival (CCLF 2021) in a new virtual format. The festival will feature some of the most prominent children's authors, illustrators, and storytellers, who will provide an excellent platform for children to discover the joy of reading. The details of the unique literary fiesta for children were shared by the organisers during a press conference held at Press Club, here.
 
Mitul Dikshit, Chairman Dikshant Schools & Adab Foundation said, “The much-awaited sixth iteration of the festival will see a diverse set of activities for children. The fiesta will kick off with a session by Shabnam Minwalla on August 14, we will have sessions every month till Feb 2022. Interactions with authors will be aimed at stimulating the imagination of children. Besides meeting their favourite authors virtually, children can also engage in interesting interactions during panel discussions, story sessions, writing/illustration workshops, film screenings, to name a few.”
 
The new virtual format will see the festival spread over 8 months till February 2022. The festival is featuring over 20 top authors, who will conduct sessions for children of ages 3 to 16 years. Some of the prominent & award-winning authors participating in the fest are - Ranjit Lal, Anita Roy, Paro Anand, Devika Cariapa, Vibha Batra, Nandini Nayar, Sandhya Rao and Lavanya Karthik among others. An international author Evan Purcell from Kazakhstan who is the creator of the Karma Tandin: Monster Hunter series is also participating.
 
The authors will cover myriad genres of literature in various sessions, which include fictional/fantasy, Adventure, Picture Book, Horror, Thriller, Biographical Fiction, gender-themed adventure, Mental Health & Well-being, Historical Fiction, Non-Fiction/Biography, Graphic Novel, Coming of Age story, Nature. Moreover, it will also include social issues & stories from the pandemic.  
 
 
A prolific author, 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 in August this month. Shabnam, who has been a speaker at Jaipur Lit Fest will also conduct a session on ghost stories, and talk about the Book of Bhoots.
 
Another writing workshop scheduled in August is by 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.
 
A renowned author, Sanjana Kapur, who is also Associate Editor at Amar Chitra Katha will discuss her book 'Who stole bhaiya’s smile?' During her storytelling session, she will shed light upon Mental Health & Well Being, which has become a problem among even children in the pandemic times.
 
 Chatura Rao, the festival Director said, “The motive of the festival is simple - to enthuse children to develop an interest in reading books & in creative writing. The literature festival will host several speakers and conduct many sessions for children, which include storytelling, creative writing, art & craft, talks, poetry, and dramatized readings. Moreover, it will also include Character Building & genres of Fiction, Non-Fiction, Horror, and story writing.”
 
 Madhav Kaushik, Former Chairman, Chandigarh Sahitya Akademy and Vice President of National Sahitya Akademy said that the festival is playing an important role in promoting good literature amongst children. He further mentioned that the festival will also include storytelling sessions in the Hindi language by some popular storytellers this year.
 
Entry to the festival is open to all. Children can register for the sessions and workshops through social media by accessing the following links facebook.com/ChandigarhChildrensLiteratureFestival/ and  instagram.com/cclf21?utm_medium=copy_link