There are small adorable spaces created and nurtured by enthusiasts who love writing and sharing the journey. 'Writer's Carnival VI' (for the poet and writer within you...) is one such. A brain child of Nivasini Publishers (which is the brainchild of the quietly efficient Nivedita who impresses me each time with her ability to organise events, get people together and pull off such events with ease) 'Writers Carnival' is a great space for writers to just soak in and enjoy the ambience, the informal atmosphere and the lovely energy. Today, 'Writer's Carnival' celebrated its VIth edition at the Birla Centre and I was invited to speak.
Nivasini is all the more special because it is partial to and encourages poets. Poetry, as they say, does not sell - or this is what the publishing world believes. Poets find it difficult to find audiences, publishers. Nivedita is a poet herself, apart from writing fiction, editing and publishing, so one can understand the reason to create a special space for poets and their poetry. I feel all poets must look at Nivasini Publishers to get published. It's a contemporary and young alternative to poets.
Apart from publishing and creating spaces like 'Writers Carnival', the team of friends and family at Nivasini Publishers also manages the 'Twin Cities Poetry Club' of which my friend Abhinay Renny is a part of it appears, not to mention Sruthi. The club meets every month and poets are encouraged to read out their works to an appreciative and supportive audience. All poets in the twin cities - check this out. I met Rajesh who is an integral part of the society and he told me that they normally meet at the TMI Office behind Chutneys Secunderabad. Rajesh is a poet, an affable young man with a warm smile and an easy demeanour, and works with TMI.
This year the 'Writer's Carnival VI' was scheduled to meet at the beautiful Birla Centre, next to the Birla Planetarium. What a lovely view, what a beautiful building and what interiors. I loved it. Akhila welcomed me - I was one of the speakers - scheduled to speak on sports fiction. We started the going on at 1015.
I spoke of why sports fiction (because its like a microcosm of life, about human spirit, about definite endings), then described how I went about the process of writing 'The Men Within' (hook, structure, characters, their back stories, narrative, duologue's, humour and drama) and addressed a few questions. Though the session was titled as a workshop, it was obvious that the writers who may want to pursue writing the genre of sports fiction would be too limited to actually hold a workshop. Rajesh and Bhavna did raise their hand to the question of who would want to write sports fiction and in the end I gifted Bhavna a copy of 'The Men Within'. She did have a couple of interesting questions too so she fully deserved it. My session was limited to my talking and sharing experiences.
Following me was the impressive young poet Trivarna Hariharan, all of 18 years, but who speaks and conducts herself with a maturity that instantly puts all age-related questions and doubts to rest. She unveiled her book of poems and proceeded to give a quick insight into the world of poetry writing, writer blocks and got everyone in the room to pen a poem down. There were lovely poems as we got to hear - one about the burden a father carries for his child in the form of a school bag, one of thoughts bouncing off walls, one of glass houses and corporate offices, one on Kashmir by Bhavna...it was lovely to hear. Trivarna left everyone with a smile on their lips, some confidence that they could also write and express themselves and just threw the energy open. Shobha was thoroughly impressed with her and so was I. Wonderful work Trivarna.
I had to leave at that stage though I wished I could have stayed all day and soaked in the atmosphere, the energy and the ambience on top of the picturesque Naubat Pahad. The comedy writing session sounded promising just as the Qawwali on Hyderabad and poetry and environment did. But I took leave after receiving a memento from Nivedita's mother who also honored Trivarna with a memento. A cup of tea with Vinod and Shobha in the cafeteria and we left.
Well done Nivedita, Akhila, Nivasini Publishers. Keep up the good work and I hope to attend 'Writer's Carnival VII' next year.
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| My talk on writing sports fiction |
Apart from publishing and creating spaces like 'Writers Carnival', the team of friends and family at Nivasini Publishers also manages the 'Twin Cities Poetry Club' of which my friend Abhinay Renny is a part of it appears, not to mention Sruthi. The club meets every month and poets are encouraged to read out their works to an appreciative and supportive audience. All poets in the twin cities - check this out. I met Rajesh who is an integral part of the society and he told me that they normally meet at the TMI Office behind Chutneys Secunderabad. Rajesh is a poet, an affable young man with a warm smile and an easy demeanour, and works with TMI.
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| A fine memento from Nivasini Publishers and GP Birla Centre presented by Nivedita's mother |
I spoke of why sports fiction (because its like a microcosm of life, about human spirit, about definite endings), then described how I went about the process of writing 'The Men Within' (hook, structure, characters, their back stories, narrative, duologue's, humour and drama) and addressed a few questions. Though the session was titled as a workshop, it was obvious that the writers who may want to pursue writing the genre of sports fiction would be too limited to actually hold a workshop. Rajesh and Bhavna did raise their hand to the question of who would want to write sports fiction and in the end I gifted Bhavna a copy of 'The Men Within'. She did have a couple of interesting questions too so she fully deserved it. My session was limited to my talking and sharing experiences.
Following me was the impressive young poet Trivarna Hariharan, all of 18 years, but who speaks and conducts herself with a maturity that instantly puts all age-related questions and doubts to rest. She unveiled her book of poems and proceeded to give a quick insight into the world of poetry writing, writer blocks and got everyone in the room to pen a poem down. There were lovely poems as we got to hear - one about the burden a father carries for his child in the form of a school bag, one of thoughts bouncing off walls, one of glass houses and corporate offices, one on Kashmir by Bhavna...it was lovely to hear. Trivarna left everyone with a smile on their lips, some confidence that they could also write and express themselves and just threw the energy open. Shobha was thoroughly impressed with her and so was I. Wonderful work Trivarna.
I had to leave at that stage though I wished I could have stayed all day and soaked in the atmosphere, the energy and the ambience on top of the picturesque Naubat Pahad. The comedy writing session sounded promising just as the Qawwali on Hyderabad and poetry and environment did. But I took leave after receiving a memento from Nivedita's mother who also honored Trivarna with a memento. A cup of tea with Vinod and Shobha in the cafeteria and we left.
Well done Nivedita, Akhila, Nivasini Publishers. Keep up the good work and I hope to attend 'Writer's Carnival VII' next year.
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