Chandigarh Children's Literature Festival on Feb 4-5

The seventh edition of Chandigarh Children's Literature Festival will be held on February 4 and 5 at Dikshant Global School near here, it was announced on Friday.

The festival will feature some of the most prominent children's authors, illustrators, and storytellers, a platform for children to discover the joy of reading.

Mitul Dikshit, Chairman, Dikshant Schools, told the media here that the seventh edition would see authors and illustrators from diverse backgrounds.

"The motive of the festival is simple -- to enthuse children to develop an interest in reading books and in creative writing. The authors who will be participating are from diverse corners of India and 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 age of three to 17 years.

Besides meeting their favourite authors, children can also engage in interesting interactions during story sessions, writing, illustration workshops and film screenings.

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, who writes stories for children.

Apart from the book reading session, Chatura will also be conducting a fantasy writing workshop for children at the festival.

Some of the prominent and award-winning authors participating in the fest include Lavanya Karthik, Samina Mishra, Pankaj Saikia, Vikram Agnihotri, Rajiv Eipe and Nandita Basu.

A 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.