Rourkela: Eminent writer and chief of communication of Rourkela Steel Plant(RSP) Ramendra Kumar represented India at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF), concluded last week.
SCRF, which was held under the directive of Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah, featured 33 authors, the best in children and young adult literature, from 18 countries. Ramendra participated in two panel discussions on The craft of writing children’s books and Fiction in children’s and young adults’ literature. He was also taken to four schools in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah as a part of the festival’s outreach programme. He discussed the art of spinning yarns, conducted story telling sessions and interacted with the vibrant minds. In one of the schools in Abu Dhabi the number of children was a whopping 1100 – a humongous number by any standards.
Talking about his experience the writer says, “The festival is one of the best events related to children’s literature which I have attended. The children though are the same everywhere – bright with tons of ideas, oodles of imagination and chunks of chutzpah. All we writers need to do is to connect and catlayse.”
It is noteworthy that Ramendra who has 36 books to his name is also a storyteller and inspirational speaker. His writings have been translated into 15 Indian and 14 foreign languages and have found a place in several school text books as well as anthologies, both in India and abroad.
