Dikshant School to organize 7th Edition of Chandigarh Children’s Literature Festival

Chandigarh, January 20, 2023: Dikshant School is organizing the 7th Edition of Chandigarh Children’s Literature Festival (CCLF 2023) on the 4th and 5th of February 2023 at Dikshant Global School, VIP Road, Zirakpur. The festival will feature some of the most prominent children's authors, illustrators, and storytellers, thus providing an excellent platform for children to discover the joy of reading. The details of the unique literary fiesta for children were shared by Mitul Dikshit, Chairman, Dikshant Schools and Madhav Kaushik, Vice President, National Sahitya Akademy in a press conference held at Press Club, here. 

Mitul Dikshit, Chairman Dikshant Schools said, “The much-awaited seventh iteration of the festival will see authors and illustrators from diverse backgrounds. The motive of the festival is simple - to enthuse children to develop an interest in reading books & in creative writing. The authors who will be participating are from diverse corners of India and this will give a great exposure to children attending the fest.”

The festival is featuring over 17 top authors and illustrators, who will conduct sessions and workshops for children of ages 3 to 17 years. Besides meeting their favourite authors, children can also engage in interesting interactions during story sessions, writing/illustration workshops, film screenings, to name a few.

Madhav Kaushik, Chairman, Chandigarh Sahitya Akademy and Vice President National Sahitya Akademy said, “Such festivals form a strong base which in turn helps children develop an interest in literature earlier on in life.”

The curator of the festival is a well-known author Chatura Rao.  Chatura Rao writes stories for children and news articles about the goings-on in the world. Apart from the book reading session, Chatura will also be conducting a fantasy writing workshop for children at the festival.

Some of the prominent & award-winning authors participating in the fest are - Lavanya Karthik, Samina Mishra , Pankaj Saikia , Vikram Agnihotri , Rajiv Eipe ,  Nandita Basu, Pika Nani (Deepika Murthy), Divya Arya, Devika Cariapa, Priti David, Adithi Rao, Chatura Rao , Kevin Missal, Kapil Pandey, Sanket Pathkar and Canato Jimo.

The authors will cover myriad genres of literature in various sessions, which include Fictional/Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Picture Book, Mythology, Adventure, Journalistic Stories, Horror, Thriller, Historical Fiction, Non-Fiction/Biography. Moreover, it will also include social issues & stories from the pandemic.  

A very well-known graphic novelist and musician Nandita Basu will be reading from her well acclaimed YA (Young Adults) novels – ‘The Piano’, ‘A story of a friendship’ and ‘Rain must Fall’. She will also be conducting a workshop on the art of storytelling through comics.  

Children will also get a chance to interact with Divya Arya, who is an award-winning journalist. Her book ‘Postbox Kashmir: Two lives in letters’, traces the political history of Kashmir and rest of India through conversations between two young girls. She will also be conducting a workshop on journalism as a profession.

Well known documentary filmmaker and author Samina Mishra will be reading from her award winning book ‘Jamlo walk’ based on what the lockdown did to the people of India, particularly its young citizens. She will also be conducting a film appreciation workshop for students.

During the workshop with the award-winning author Lavanya Karthik, children will be exploring different illustration styles to tell a story.

Another inspiring session at the festival would be by Vikram Agnihotri on his book ‘Look Ma, No Hands!’ The book is a biographical novel written in the style of a graphic narrative.  Vikram Agnihotri is India’s first double-arm amputee to get a car driving licence and then become a racing driver.

Entry to the festival is open to all.