Srinagar, June 19, KDC: The much-anticipated Bookaroo Children’s Literature Festival is returning to Srinagar for its seventh edition. The festival is set to take place on June 22nd and 23rd, 2024, from 10 am to 3:30 pm at Delhi Public School, Athwajan Srinagar. Bookaroo, founded under the aegis of the Bookaroo Trust, a registered public charitable trust based in Delhi, has visited 17 cities across India, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, completing 45 editions since its inception in 2008.
This year’s Srinagar edition promises an enriching experience with 30 speakers from eight cities presenting 58 sessions. The sessions will encompass a wide range of activities, including storytelling, crafts, book readings, doodling, poetry, and music, aiming to bring books to life and spread the joy of reading among children. While the festival primarily conducts its sessions in English, it also includes sessions in local languages such as Kashmiri and Urdu.
Bookaroo is dedicated to making literature accessible and engaging for children. It endeavors to revive the wonder of imagination and reconnect children with the world of literature through interactions with authors and storytellers. In 2017, Bookaroo won the Literary Festival Award at the London Book Fair’s International Excellence Awards, marking the only instance an Indian literature festival has received this recognition.
“Srinagar has always been special for us ever since we began in 2010. And it is an even more fantastic feeling to be here for the seventh time. Bringing the joy of books and reading has never been more delightful. This year’s spread of programmes for the weekend has many interesting sessions. We thank our speakers, the publishers who supported and backed us to the hilt as well as Delhi Public School, Srinagar, which has been home to Bookaroo for seven years,” says Swati Roy, festival director.
Vikas Dhar, member of managing committee at DPS Srinagar & another key figure in organizing the festival, remarked, “Bookaroo’s return to Srinagar symbolizes our commitment to fostering a love for literature among children in this beautiful city. Each year, we see the excitement and engagement grow, which makes all our efforts worthwhile.”
This year’s festival will feature a variety of engaging sessions on topics such as science, water experiments, Qissebaazi performances, STEM, dinosaurs, art, craft, food, music, nature, environment, emotions, Ladishah, Kamishibai, space travel, and adventure. Attendees will also have the chance to meet the Gruffalo, from Julia Donaldson’s famous character, and explore the world of Mister Water.
Among the distinguished speakers are Adil Shaikh, a passionate STEM trainer who has been sharing the joys of science with children for nine years and aims to take STEM learning across India; Anupama Jain, an author of five books and 13 anthologies, who is an acclaimed community builder, mentor, educator, and multi-award-winning blogger; Archana Garodia Gupta, a winner of the TV Quiz BBC Mastermind India, who has a talent for weaving delightful nuggets of information into engaging tales for children; Canato Jimo, an art director from Nagaland who loves to see picture books come alive; and Garima Gupta, an artist and picture book maker currently working on a series of pop-up books about mental health for young readers. Other notable participants include Nicholas Hoffland, Niloufer Wadia, Pragati Sureka, and many more, each bringing their unique perspective and expertise to the festival.
The Bookaroo Srinagar 2024 promises an exciting and enriching weekend for children and families alike.
This year’s Bookaroo promises much, much excitement. Do join us. For any interview queries with authors or the organisers, please call Mr Ehsan Quddusi at 9419422263
The speakers for this edition are:
Adil Shaikh
Adil, a passionate STEM trainer, loves to teach and learn science with children. He has been spreading the “joys of science” for nine years. He is hoping to take STEM learning across India and make science awesome for all.
Anupama Jain
Anupama, who writes for both children and adults, is the author of five books and 13 anthologies. She is an acclaimed community builder, mentor, educator, creative writing consultant, multi-award-winning blogger, closet Master-Chef, aspiring Multipotentialite and a Green Thumb.
Archana Garodia Gupta
Archana, a winner of the TV Quiz BBC Mastermind India, has been on national television as an expert on Kaun Banega Crorepati. She has a knack for weaving delightful nuggets of information into engaging tales for children.
Canato Jimo
Art director Canato, who comes from Nagaland, loves to watch picture books come alive. He moonlights as a musician, loves to guzzle tea and pop bubble wraps, and is a recovering stationery addict.
Garima Gupta
Garima is an artist and picture book maker. She likes birds and her dog, Kaju. Garima is currently working on a series of pop-up books about mental health for young readers.
Isha Nagar
Isha is an artist, illustrator, designer and a cat lover. Apart from working on award-winning books, Isha can be found swimming into the gigantic waves of colours, with little pauses to sniff new books.
Mamta Nainy
Mamta, an award-winning children’s author of over 30 books, loves travelling but is too lazy to do it, so she mostly makes do with reading. Her favourite place is right in the middle of a book.
Masood Hussain
Masood’s imaginative works encompass vivid watercolor paintings, captivating installation art, intricate relief pieces, and striking stone sculptures. He has been the head of the department of applied art at Kashmir University.
Nicholas Hoffland
Nicholas spends time as a writer, art curator and design guy. As a cook, he mishmashes regional cuisines and health food. He loves enabling all ages to enjoy Western and Indian classical music, classic rock and jazz.
Niloufer Wadia
Niloufer has been drawing people all her life, but it was only eight years ago when she began illustrating for children’s books that she discovered she can draw buildings, animals, birds and insects – just about anything.
Pragati Sureka
Harvard-educated researcher and clinical psychologist Pragati has five published books on mental health and four in the pipeline. She has spoken at the World Economic Forum on her concept of Emotional Ability Resources for building emotional intelligence and resilience in students.
Sadaf Ashaq
Sadaf, a passionate storyteller and teacher at Delhi Public School’s Learning Resource Centre, holds a master’s degree in English Literature. With a love for captivating young minds, she eagerly anticipates enchanting children whenever she meets them.
Sadaf Hussain
Chef, author and podcaster, Sadaf Hussain wears many hats! When he isn’t chewing on food history or food stories, Sadaf likes to write and speak about culture and myth busting.
Shazia Arshid
Shazia, who teaches Kashmiri, has been instrumental in reviving the love for the language among students. Organising cultural programmes, folk dramas, singing competitions and Ladisha are some of the ways in which she is doing so.
Shefali Malhotra
Shefali is sometimes an adult running her venture www.bukmuk.com, a child when telling stories to her son, a buzzing bee when irritating her husband and, for most of the time, daydreaming with her imaginary clown nose on.
Simi Srivastava
Multiple award-winner, master storyteller for three decades, founder Kathashala Storytelling Institute and Studio, children’s author, educationalist, curriculum designer, teacher trainer, story therapist and corporate storyteller.
Sonia Duggal
Sonia is an accomplished author, curriculum developer, ESL instructor, and storyteller with over two decades of experience in education. She specializes in creating educational content, teacher training, and conducting writer’s workshops.
Tanvi Bhat
Tanvi is a children’s book illustrator and author who has created books for many publishers. She likes working with watercolours and gouache when making pictures, and scribbling on scraps of paper that she’s constantly losing.
Tanya Majmudar
Tanya is a children’s author, publisher and a project manager. When not working or travelling in forests looking for wildlife, you can find her curled up in bed or sipping coffee with friends.
Team DK
Team DK features Nishwan Rasool, senior picture researcher and visual storyteller extraordinaire; Zarak Rais, an incredible editor who lives and loves children’s books; Shahid Qureshi, an editor who specializes in talking to children and Kingshuk Ghoshal, DK’s very own non-stop battery and managing editor of books for kids.
The Hoshruba Repertory
The intent of 12-year-old Hoshruba Repertory, a theatre company founded by actor, storyteller, poet and director Danish Husain, is to perform high literary texts in an accessible way. Danish was instrumental in reviving Dastangoi, the lost art of Urdu storytelling, which he later expanded into the multilingual storytelling performance, Qissebaazi.
Devendra Singh Kushwa is a theatre & film actor based in Mumbai. Has successfully performed with theatre companies like The Hoshruba Repertory and Rangshila. Prashant Sharma is a theatre and screen actor. He has successfully performed in many productions with theatre companies like The Hoshruba Repertory, Actor Factor Theatre Company and Aarambh Mumbai. He also trained with Kalakshetra, Manipur. Keith Antony Sequeira is an actor, singer, musician, writer and dancer. He has been a part of many successful theatrical productions including Disney’s Alladin; and has been applauded for his performances in Netflix productions, Tooth Pari, and Yeh Ballet.
Ulfat Ara
An art and craft teacher at DPS Srinagar, Ulfat has been nurturing creativity and artistic expression in young minds for the past 11 years. She encourages self-expression, fine motor skills and an appreciation for various art forms in children.
Usha Venkatraman
Usha is an award-winning storyteller, TEDx speaker, educationist, author, classical vocalist, puppeteer and radio show host, who inspires and transforms through stories. Her stories are an intersection of Indian myths, folklore, feminism and music.
Zarin Virji
The teacher’s lens hasn’t dulled her child’s-eye view of the world, thank goodness! Zarin writes like she prays – straight from the heart, keeping it real with an unwavering hope for a better world.
