You're Invited for a Laughter Session on 27th July

The unbeatable renowned stand-up artists and poets, the 'Haasya Kavi' would be at Indradhanush Auditorium this Friday at Panchkula at 6:30pm.  Don't forget to join in to meet with Shri Surinder Sharma, along with five other noted poets, namely, Mahendar Ajnabi, Ved Parkash Ved, Yusuf Bhardwaj, and two ladies, Dr. Sita Sagar and Ritu Goyal. 

Join in with your family and friends. Entry is free. 

Penguin Books releases eBooks

Penguin Books India has launched over 240 titles of books published in 2012 and select best sellers in ebook format which would be available on all major international ebook retail outlets, including Amazon, Apple, OLF, Kobo and Google, etc. 
Penguin India intends to have the largest digital catalogue of Indian ebooks by the end of the year.
To read more, click here.

Bonanza for CLS Members

The members of Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS) can get special privilege for their membership to the British Library.  British Library at Chandigarh very thoughtfully extended a special privilege membership fee structure for CLS members as follows : 

Category	Actual Membership Fee	For CLS Members
Gold	Rs.1500	Rs.1200
Gold Plus & Diamond	Rs.2000	Rs.1700
Diamond Plus	Rs.2500	Rs.2100
Platinum	Rs.2900	Rs.2500

Chandigarh Literary Society announces Short Story Competition Winners

Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS), which had organised a short-story writing competition last month announced the winners.

There was an encouraging response to the competition and within a span of 20 days we had received 98 entries in various languages, and a three-panel jury comprising of city-based noted author Khushwant Singh, writer and journalist Nirupama Dutt, and author and educationist Neel Kamal Puri, evaluated the entries and selected the winners, who will be recognized and awarded at a public function soon, informed Sumita Misra, President of CLS.

Dinker Vashisht has won the first prize for his story ‘August Rose’, while Nayantara Singh’s “The Last Tsar”, and Suneet Kheterpal’s untitled story won the second and third prize respectively.

The jury also selected Nayan Jain’s ‘Encounters’, Kailash Srinivasan for ‘Super Khan’, and Pankaj Sharma ‘Goodwill Hunting’ for special consolation prizes.

CLS would be holding such literary competitions regularly to encourage young writers to share their creativity, informed Ms Misra. 

The Winter of Our Discontent

This day, on 23rd June 1961 John Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent was published.  Despite not-very-favorable reviews after launch, he went on to win the Nobel in 1962. 
In his acceptance speech, he said, "the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit—for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature."

Gift a Book

Please keep the books that you can spare and share separately.  The next CLS event would be announced soon, and you can bring your collection to us so that we can gift it over to someone who would love to read.  The Gift a Book box will also be ready soon and would be placed at a public place where you can drop the books to be gifted.
In the meanwhile, Mail Today, published a little snipped about our initiative today.  A good reminder for everyone to continue to support it.
Fortunately, Chandigarh is waking up to literary activities and everyday we find joyous 'parents' (authors) fondly holding their 'new born' (book).  Keep writing. Keep sharing your thoughts. There is no better mentor and friend than a book.

Today is the Last Day!

Each day is a gift, someone said. And if it be the last day, what you would do? I'm reminded of Nickelbeck's song "If today was your last day".  It says "Leave no stones unturned", and "so live like you're never livin twice".  A great inspiration.
But today is the last day, indeed...for you to let the creative fluids flow and enter your short story in the CLS Short Story Writing Competition.
Come on. Let's do it.