Creative Writing Workshop Concludes

Two-days workshop on creative writing concluded here today. 

As the workshop came to a close at about 4:30pm, the enthusiasm, confidence, and energy had doubled in them. Despite being a Sunday, they were enjoying every moment, and there was not an iota of boredom or tiredness.

The day saw children interacting with Suparna -Saraswati Puri on handling language, grammar, and vocabulary, while Chandra Shekhar Varma spent the afternoon interacting with each child in order to develop their story ideas.

"I feel humbled at the brilliant ideas that the children have come up with, and it appears I shall have to go back and relearn the art of story telling," Chandra Shekhar Varma remarked jocularly in his closing remarks.

He commended every participant for their creativity and novel story ideas.

Every participant is required to submit their story now by Monday, 6th of June, till midnight on clscompetitions@gmail.com, for the editors to review it and inclusion in the anthology of stories to be published later.

"Awesome", "Incredible", "Brilliant" were some of the remarks that summed up their experience at the workshop.


Some of the parents who were present at the concluding programme, collectively handed over the memento of appreciation and remembrance to Chandra Shekhar Varma.

Budding Writers Explore the World of Words

Two-days workshop on creative writing begins at Beant Singh Memorial Centre at Chandigarh

 The two-days workshop on creative writing organized by Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS) began here today at the Beant Singh Memorial Centre in Sector 42.

Inaugurating the workshop which had nearly 20 young participants from various schools of the city from class 8th to class 12th, Sumita Misra, chairperson of CLS, said that wordsare perhaps the most dynamic form of human creation that not only stimulates imagination, thoughts and instincts but also propels children into a unique realm of fantasy where they can weave their own tales and stimulate their right brain and creativity, she added.

The workshop is being conducted by noted writer and poet Chandra Shekhar Varma from Lucknow, who is also the grandson of Padma Bhushan Shri Bhagati Charan Varma, who organizes similar workshops around the country through his Think Ink Hat organization.

Chandra Shekhar has two poetry books and an English novel, Corners of a Straight Line published by Rupa, to his credit.

He would be stimulating creativity amongst participants and engage them in developing ideas into a story, while introducing them to the art of story telling, dialogue writing, and different genres.

Another author Neel Kamal Puri took the session on developing plot and sub-plots, and characters, while author Vivek Atray inspired and ignited the budding writers to make the best use of their imagination and create unique stories.

On Sunday, another well-known writer and journalist Suparna-Saraswati Puri would take the students on the journey of enhancing their vocabulary and developing command over language.

The workshop will conclude with the development of story ideas by each child, who would further develop the tale in the next three months and submit to CLS, for including it in an anthology of stories that would be published and released at the CLS’s signature event, Literati.

Make Your Child a Published Author this Summer!

Here is an opportunity for the children studying in Class 8th to 12th to make the best use of their summer holidays, to become a published Author.

That is true.  Chandigarh Literary Society in association with Think Ink Hats is organising a two-days intensive workshop in creative writing.  Three reputed authors including Chandra Shekhar Varma from Lucknow along with Neel Kamal Puri and Vivek Atray would interact with the children to help them develop a story, and by the end of the workshop, make it worth sharing with the world.

The Workshop is being conducted in the air-conditioned hall of Beant Singh Memorial Library in Sector 42, Chandigarh. Reporting time for everyone is at 9:00am so that the workshop can begin in time.

The fee is just Rs.5,000 which includes the writing material, lunch and refreshments, as well as an opportunity to get their story published by a reputed publisher.  Each participant shall get 10 copies free after the publication of the anthology.

The book of short stories will be released at the Lucknow Literary Festival and at Literati-2016, the Lit Fest organised by Chandigarh Literary Society.

To Register please call
Saguna Jain M:09884 88088 / Hardeep Chandpuri M: 098727 21400
or write to clscompetitions@gmail.com

Chandigarh Literary Society releases two fictions

Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS) organized the launch of two books in the city on 5th May. 

Ms Sumita Misra, Chairperson of CLS informed that the second novel of corporate trainer and life coach, Suditi Jindal, The Adulteress, published by Grapevine India Publishers, was released at the Chandigarh Golf Club.

Suditi Jindal informed that ‘The Adulteress’  (priced Rs.149) is the story of a woman undergoing midlife crisis and her journey to self-realisation amidst conflicting human emotions.

The book was released by CLS Chairperson Sumita Misra, along with family and friends of Suditi.

The author is fiercely hopeful that the book will encourage the readers to submit to ‘Divine Will’ or love to unravel the mysteries of their lives – analogous with her journey to the higher self while writing The Adulteress.

Suditi began her journey as a writer at the young age of 9 years and while still in school got an award from Hindi Academy Delhi, and in 2012, under Snab Publishers  her debut novel ‘Grow Up Moon!’ saw the light of the day.

Suditi regards herself as a sponge that soaks up the good, the bad and the ugly of life around her and then weaves simple tales with deeper underlying messages.

The second book launch was debut novel, “The Lamentations of a Sombre Sky”, written by a young man, Manan Kapoor, who originally hails from Shimla but has made the city his home, at the Whistling Duck restaurant.  

Dr. Rana Nayar, Head of the Department of  English Literature, Panjab University, explored the nuances and inspiration behind writing of this novel, and Manan revealed that the idea germinated from the album, Ghost Reveries by Opeth, which is a story of a man’s turmoil after committing an unconscionable act, and over a period of next two-and-a-half years, the novel emerged.

The Lamentations of a Sombre Sky, published by Frog Books, is the story of a skirmish with life and the perseverance in the dark times.  (250 pages, Rs.250)

The Lamentations of a Sombre Sky is about a phenomena that every individual experiences at least once during their lifetime – loss, said Manan. No matter what you’ve seen, experienced, fought, you will always feel it caresses you gently, at every point of your life. The basic purpose of writing this novel was to elaborate that loss is a downward spiral that never ends. The moments when you think you’ve achieved salvation are like words in one of those awfully long sentences written by Proust or Faulkner – another word follows, always, Manan added.

Meet Nayantara Sahgal on 17th March

Department of English and Cultural Studies in collaboration with Department of  Alumni Relations, Panjab University  is organising a  Lecture by well known author “NAYANTARA SAHGAL” on the occasion of Alumni Meet of the Department of English and Cultural Studies  on March 17, 2016,  4.00 p.m. at  Evening Studies Auditorium, Arts Block – 1, Panjab University, Chandigarh. 

You are cordially invited to attend this function.