Students from 70 schools in Mumbai participate in Crossword’s “I want to be an Author” initiative

Mumbai: I want to be an Author - season 2 in association with Kotak was announced by The Write Place, the publishing arm of Crossword Bookstores, at Ryan International School, Mumbai.

On Saturday, 350 students from top notch schools like Green Lawn’s High school, Ryan International school, J B Petit, Rustomjee Cambridge to Utpal Sanghvi Global, and Billabong High International gathered for the first of its kind initiative, that motivates students to submit their short stories.

Entries for season 2 were opened in November 2018. Since then Crossword has received more than double the entries. This year 30,000 stories were submitted as opposed to the 10,000-last year, indicating that the initiative is reaching multitudes of students across the city.

Maulik Desai, Head, Crossword Bookstores said, “We are excited for the second season of "IWant to be An Author". Crossword has been dedicated to providing its customers quality writing in English since the past 26 years. This is a platform we have started for students to give them the opportunity to be more creative and confident. It’s also a rare chance for the students to showcase their writing skills and get published.”

While interacting with the young students, children’s author Shamim Padamsee shared, “Imagination and creativity will be of utmost importance in the years ahead. How does it help? Well, think of the stalwarts of people in days of yore who asked the question, What if? The Wright Brothers asked, what if there was a machine that would enable man to fly? What if machines can talk? What if, man can go to the moon? These questions triggered thought processes in place that propelled us into a never dreamt of future. Writers do the same. They ask, What if? And thus, unleash their creativity to come up with propositions and possibilities to address the same.”

The final anthology will comprise of approximately 45 excellent short stories giving students the chance to become published writers and is slated to be released in April end.

One of the students, 13-year-old Disha Jain from The Universal School, Tardeo said, “Writing is fun as you can put all your thoughts into it and later on, they give you so many memories!”

In an era where binge watching tv shows and movies is more customary, an increasing number of students are spending their time to write and read.

"The first edition of the book sold over 1000 copies. Research shows that if children start writing stories from an early age then their imagination is empowered, they have better concentration and communication is highly improved. ‘I Want to be an Author’ is the perfect booster for the students to start writing," added Anup Jerajani, Head, The Write Place.

Writers who have found their calling through The Write Place include Sanya Runwal who wrote the brilliant Ten Dollar Bride and Abhishek Roy, author of Father of the Gods.