JUNIOR KOLKATA LITERARY MEET | EDITION VI
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Since 2017, ThinkArts has been curating this annual literary festival for young readers. Presented by the Kolkata Literary Meet, one of the leading literature festivals of the city, the edition for children and young people has included author sessions, creative workshops, book launches, engaging activities and more. Hundreds of children from schools across Kolkata, have attended the festival every year. Award-winning authors from India and abroad have graced the festival.
With much hope and excitement this year, we were able to bring back some of the offline sessions with an eclectic line-up for the festival. We brought four online sessions for primary students, four online sessions for middle-school students, and four offline sessions at the Victoria Memorial Hall Grounds, Kolkata for senior students!
Curated by ThinkArts, Junior Kolkata Literary Meet Edition VI presented these wonderful sessions to engage our young audiences...
With much hope and excitement this year, we were able to bring back some of the offline sessions with an eclectic line-up for the festival. We brought four online sessions for primary students, four online sessions for middle-school students, and four offline sessions at the Victoria Memorial Hall Grounds, Kolkata for senior students!
Curated by ThinkArts, Junior Kolkata Literary Meet Edition VI presented these wonderful sessions to engage our young audiences...
JKLM 2022 also comprised of an activity for teenagers, in the wake of R K Laxman's centenary, and seven decades since his 'Common Man' character spread over India! We asked the young people in Kolkata, what THEY thought the ‘Common Indian’ looked like? If teenagers were to imagine a cartoon character depicting the average Indian citizen, what distinct features would they have, what would they wear, what would they do?
10 selected submissions received certificates signed by E. P. Unny at the session on 24th March!
10 selected submissions received certificates signed by E. P. Unny at the session on 24th March!
THURSDAY, 24TH MARCH 2022
Thursday, 24th March 2022 – 9:30 am IST [ONLINE]:
The Boy Who Played with Light - Satyajit Ray: Lavanya Karthik
Lavanya Karthik is the award winning author and illustrator of over thirty books for children. She is the creator of the popular Ninja Nani series of graphic novels, and Dreamers, an acclaimed series of innovative picture book biographies.
Thursday, 24th March 2022 – 9:30 am IST [ONLINE]:
The Boy Who Played with Light - Satyajit Ray: Lavanya Karthik
Lavanya Karthik is the award winning author and illustrator of over thirty books for children. She is the creator of the popular Ninja Nani series of graphic novels, and Dreamers, an acclaimed series of innovative picture book biographies.
Thursday, 24th March 2022 – 10:30 am IST [OFFLINE]:
Asmara's Summer, Andaleeb Wajid in conversation with Isha Daga
Andaleeb Wajid is a hybrid author, having published 33 novels in the past 12 years. Andaleeb enjoys writing in a number of different genres such as Young Adult, Romance, and Horror. Andaleeb's recent novels All Drama No Queen and Mirror, Mirror were published by Penguin Random House and Duckbill respectively in 2021. She has an upcoming YA novel with Harper Collins.
Isha Daga is an entrepreneur and arts leader who is passionate about children’s writing and theatre. She has been a freelance journalist before embarking on her entrepreneurial journey in design, marketing, and engineering. She has led countless sessions and workshops on writing, storytelling, and the arts for young audiences, and participated in arts projects in India and abroad. Isha serves in an honorary capacity on the executive committees of several arts, socio-cultural and educational organisations in the city.
Thursday, 24th March 2022 – 10:30 am IST [OFFLINE]:
Asmara's Summer, Andaleeb Wajid in conversation with Isha Daga
Andaleeb Wajid is a hybrid author, having published 33 novels in the past 12 years. Andaleeb enjoys writing in a number of different genres such as Young Adult, Romance, and Horror. Andaleeb's recent novels All Drama No Queen and Mirror, Mirror were published by Penguin Random House and Duckbill respectively in 2021. She has an upcoming YA novel with Harper Collins.
Isha Daga is an entrepreneur and arts leader who is passionate about children’s writing and theatre. She has been a freelance journalist before embarking on her entrepreneurial journey in design, marketing, and engineering. She has led countless sessions and workshops on writing, storytelling, and the arts for young audiences, and participated in arts projects in India and abroad. Isha serves in an honorary capacity on the executive committees of several arts, socio-cultural and educational organisations in the city.
Thursday, 24th March 2022 – 11:00 am IST [ONLINE]:
Treasures and Translations: Jashodhara on Jawker Dhan, in conversation with Devakalpa Ghose
Jashodhara Chakraborti is an author and translator. She is a Statistics graduate and an MBA. She has also been an executive and a Mathematics teacher in London. She is the author of two books of The Wordkeepers Trilogy – The Wordkeepers and Skyserpents – the first one a bestseller on debut. In 2019, she created a concept for a Young Adult web series with Disney-Hotstar. Jashodhara is also a TEDx speaker. Jashodhara has translated Hemendra Kumar Roy’s adventure for Young Adults : The Treasure, and is serializing a translation of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s opera, The Illusion Game, on digital platform Scrollstack. She is here today to talk to you about how to translate your first book.
Devakalpa Ghose is a senior Resource Person conducting webinars and workshops for teachers and children on wide-ranging topics for Oxford University Press India. An EdTech consultant, anchor, content developer - he has been with children and learning for over 2 decades. Among other interests, he is an avid reader.
Thursday, 24th March 2022 – 11:45 am IST [OFFLINE]:
Decoding RK Laxman's legacy to a new generation. E.P. Unny in conversation with Ruchira Das
Ekanath Padmanabhan Unny is an Indian political cartoonist. He hails from the Ekanath Family of Elappully, Palakkad. He studied physics at the University in the Indian state of Kerala. His first cartoon was published in Shankar's Weekly in 1973. He became a professional cartoonist in 1977 with The Hindu. E. P. Unny has worked with the Sunday Mail, The Economic Times and is now the Chief Political Cartoonist with The Indian Express Group. He has drawn and written graphic novels in Malayalam and a travel book on Kerala - 'Spices and Souls - A doodler's journey through Kerala'. He is said to have been doing graphic shorts in Malayalam literary journals as early as the 1990s. He has also written Santa and the Scribes: The Making of Fort Kochi, which was published in 2014.
Ruchira Das decided to leave the corporate world to follow her heart and work with the arts. After working for 15 years with various arts organisations in different capacities, she founded ThinkArts in December 2013, which has collaborated with over 75 partners across India and internationally, to bring a diverse programme of literary, visual art, dance, theatre to over 50,000 children and young people in several cities across India. Ruchira is also the Artistic Director at Arthshila, a multi-art space in Ahmedabad, and coming up in New Delhi, Patna, and Santiniketan, and is the Deputy Director at ARThink South Asia.
Decoding RK Laxman's legacy to a new generation. E.P. Unny in conversation with Ruchira Das
Ekanath Padmanabhan Unny is an Indian political cartoonist. He hails from the Ekanath Family of Elappully, Palakkad. He studied physics at the University in the Indian state of Kerala. His first cartoon was published in Shankar's Weekly in 1973. He became a professional cartoonist in 1977 with The Hindu. E. P. Unny has worked with the Sunday Mail, The Economic Times and is now the Chief Political Cartoonist with The Indian Express Group. He has drawn and written graphic novels in Malayalam and a travel book on Kerala - 'Spices and Souls - A doodler's journey through Kerala'. He is said to have been doing graphic shorts in Malayalam literary journals as early as the 1990s. He has also written Santa and the Scribes: The Making of Fort Kochi, which was published in 2014.
Ruchira Das decided to leave the corporate world to follow her heart and work with the arts. After working for 15 years with various arts organisations in different capacities, she founded ThinkArts in December 2013, which has collaborated with over 75 partners across India and internationally, to bring a diverse programme of literary, visual art, dance, theatre to over 50,000 children and young people in several cities across India. Ruchira is also the Artistic Director at Arthshila, a multi-art space in Ahmedabad, and coming up in New Delhi, Patna, and Santiniketan, and is the Deputy Director at ARThink South Asia.
Thursday, 24th March 2022 – 5:00 pm IST [ONLINE]:
Maithili and the Minotaur: C G Salamander
C G Salamander is a writer, comic journalist, and editor who splits his time between Chennai and the Netherlands. He enjoys writing horror and likes manga, Terry Prachtett, and cows. His first graphic novel Maithili and the Minotaur (co-created with Rajiv Eipe) was released in October 2021. Salamander is currently working on his first YA novel.
Thursday, 24th March 2022 – 5:00 pm IST [ONLINE]:
Maithili and the Minotaur: C G Salamander
C G Salamander is a writer, comic journalist, and editor who splits his time between Chennai and the Netherlands. He enjoys writing horror and likes manga, Terry Prachtett, and cows. His first graphic novel Maithili and the Minotaur (co-created with Rajiv Eipe) was released in October 2021. Salamander is currently working on his first YA novel.
Thursday, 24th March 2022 – 6:30 pm IST [ONLINE]:
Somnath Hore - Wounds: Likla & Kripa
Likla writes for children about art, including IPPY award-winning 'Art is a Verb' published by Art1st. She also writes for Little Light on a curriculum about the Self, and for PanicNot!, a TTRPG/storytelling collective. Beyond an ardent love for books, she finds joy in a lifelong practice of dance and movement.
Kripa is a Children’s book illustrator based in Mumbai. She took up teaching Art and Design after completing Fine Art from Sir JJ School of Art. Having been an Art educator for over 17 years and having worked with Art and Design institutions like Srishti school of Art design and technology. In most of her books, city and art have been recurring themes as she is working on representing urban realism thus enabling children to view their cities with new perspectives. Her art is rooted in her engagement with her city Mumbai, its children, people and their problems. Two of her books have featured in the Parag Honour list in 2019 and 2021.
Thursday, 24th March 2022 – 6:30 pm IST [ONLINE]:
Somnath Hore - Wounds: Likla & Kripa
Likla writes for children about art, including IPPY award-winning 'Art is a Verb' published by Art1st. She also writes for Little Light on a curriculum about the Self, and for PanicNot!, a TTRPG/storytelling collective. Beyond an ardent love for books, she finds joy in a lifelong practice of dance and movement.
Kripa is a Children’s book illustrator based in Mumbai. She took up teaching Art and Design after completing Fine Art from Sir JJ School of Art. Having been an Art educator for over 17 years and having worked with Art and Design institutions like Srishti school of Art design and technology. In most of her books, city and art have been recurring themes as she is working on representing urban realism thus enabling children to view their cities with new perspectives. Her art is rooted in her engagement with her city Mumbai, its children, people and their problems. Two of her books have featured in the Parag Honour list in 2019 and 2021.
FRIDAY, 25TH MARCH 2022
Friday, 25th March 2022 – 9:30 am IST [ONLINE]:
My Grandmother's Masterpiece: Madhurima Vidyarthi, in conversation with Isha Daga
Madhurima Vidyarthi is an endocrinologist who always wanted to be a writer. My Grandmother’s Masterpiece is her first book, but she is planning to write many more. When she is not writing—books or prescriptions— Madhurima likes to travel, eat good food and delve into history.
Isha Daga is an entrepreneur and arts leader who is passionate about children’s writing and theatre. She has been a freelance journalist before embarking on her entrepreneurial journey in design, marketing, and engineering. She has led countless sessions and workshops on writing, storytelling, and the arts for young audiences, and participated in arts projects in India and abroad. Isha serves in an honorary capacity on the executive committees of several arts, socio-cultural and educational organisations in the city.
Friday, 25th March 2022 – 10:30 am IST [OFFLINE]:
Growing Up: Third Space Collective
Third Space Collective is a group of theatre practitioners and educators who aim to create contemporary and experimental work in and about the times we live in. The last 7 years have seen the collective produce a series of productions and create solid groundwork to take theatre to the communities that make up the city.
Growing Up: Third Space Collective
Third Space Collective is a group of theatre practitioners and educators who aim to create contemporary and experimental work in and about the times we live in. The last 7 years have seen the collective produce a series of productions and create solid groundwork to take theatre to the communities that make up the city.
Friday, 25th March 2022 – 11:00 am IST [ONLINE]:
Loki Takes Guard: Menaka Raman, in conversation with Priyadarshinee Guha
Menaka Raman is the author of a number of picture books for children including Gappu Can't Dance and Topi Rockets from Thumba, one young adult novel (Loki Takes Guard) and a few short stories. She moonlights as a communications consultant and occasional columnist. She spends too much time on Instagram and thinking about food.
An alumna of Loreto House, La Martiniere for Girls and Presidency College, Calcutta, Priyadarshinee is a Masters in Modern History and a gold medallist from Calcutta University. Passionate about teaching she chose to make this her life force. Priyadarshinee has been teaching History and English for the last 22 years in reputed schools of Calcutta, namely Modern High School for Girls and The Heritage School. As a teacher of History she has conducted several workshops for students and for training of teachers in using novel and creative approaches in the classroom. Presently the Vice Principal at Indus Valley World School, she actively engages in marrying her love for the arts with her teaching and in steering the children to explore and identify creative avenues of expression, through drama, dance, singing, music and literary endeavours.
Friday, 25th March 2022 – 5:00 pm IST [BENGALI - ONLINE]:
Leela Majumdar's Stories: Santanil Ganguly
Santanil Ganguly is one of the founding members of the Kolkata-based Jhalapala Theatre Group. Santanil has regaled audiences of all ages, with his storytelling and performed at various events including Bookaroo Children's Literature Festival. He has also performed storytelling sessions at the Indian Museum & Victoria Memorial Hall, as part of events curated by ThinkArts. Santanil Ganguly is also a member of Assitej India (an organisation working for Theatre For Young Audience).
Friday, 25th March 2022 – 6:30 pm IST [ONLINE]:
Naturalist Ruddy: Rohan Chakravarty
Rohan is a cartoonist and illustrator from Nagpur and the creator of Green Humour, a series of cartoons on wildlife and conservation. Green Humour is the first series of comics from India to be distributed internationally by a major syndicate (Universal Press’ ‘Gocomics’), and appears periodically in wildlife magazines and newspapers. He also collaborates with organizations working on wildlife and conservation to produce illustrated awareness material. He has won awards by the UNDP, Sanctuary Asia, WWF International, Royal Bank of Scotland and the Green Literature Festival for his work, and has authored five books.
SATURDAY, 26TH MARCH 2022
Saturday, 26th March 2022 – 10:30 am IST [BENGALI - OFFLINE]:
Satyajiter Chhelebela: Agnijit Sen and Poorna Banerjee
Agnijit Sen is a popular radio jockey associated with Radio Mirchi, and is popularly known as ‘Mirchi Agni’. Along with Mirchi Somak, he regularly stars in the Radio Mirchi video spoof series, O Maa Go. Sen also lends his voice to Mirchi’s popular story-telling podcast, Sunday Suspense. He has also starred in Bengali films such as Golondaaj (2021).
Poorna Banerjee is a food writer, restaurant critic, PR consultant and social media strategist. Her blog, Presented by P, was the first significant (and still-running) food blog from Kolkata. She has written for numerous regional and national publications, including NDTV Food and Sananda. A literature graduate, she started her career in food writing from her blog, which features easy recipes, quick meal plans, reviews of restaurants, hotels and products that she finds interesting. Apart from her blog, she is also a successful social media strategist and PR consultant, and is associated with quite a few well-known brands. She is extremely interested in food history, culinary anthropology, and loves books, music, travelling, and a glass of wine, in that order.
Satyajiter Chhelebela: Agnijit Sen and Poorna Banerjee
Agnijit Sen is a popular radio jockey associated with Radio Mirchi, and is popularly known as ‘Mirchi Agni’. Along with Mirchi Somak, he regularly stars in the Radio Mirchi video spoof series, O Maa Go. Sen also lends his voice to Mirchi’s popular story-telling podcast, Sunday Suspense. He has also starred in Bengali films such as Golondaaj (2021).
Poorna Banerjee is a food writer, restaurant critic, PR consultant and social media strategist. Her blog, Presented by P, was the first significant (and still-running) food blog from Kolkata. She has written for numerous regional and national publications, including NDTV Food and Sananda. A literature graduate, she started her career in food writing from her blog, which features easy recipes, quick meal plans, reviews of restaurants, hotels and products that she finds interesting. Apart from her blog, she is also a successful social media strategist and PR consultant, and is associated with quite a few well-known brands. She is extremely interested in food history, culinary anthropology, and loves books, music, travelling, and a glass of wine, in that order.
