Organised by: School Library with scholastic publishing house team
Participants: Students of Class 7

Learning Outcomes

The session helped students to:

• Understand the importance of imagination and storytelling.
• Develop curiosity about authors and their creative processes.
• Gain confidence in interacting with and questioning an author.
• Encourage regular reading and creative writing habits.

The School Librarian, with the support of the Scholastic Publishing House team, the Coordinator of Classes VI–VIII, and the Principal, organised an engaging and insightful Author Talk with Ms. Shobhita Narayan, an Indian author of children's speculative fiction. The session was organised with the objective of encouraging students to develop a love for reading, nurturing their imagination and creativity, and providing them with an opportunity to understand the creative journey behind writing and publishing a book.

The session focused on her book Kritika Kahawat and the Last Dragon of Kuruk, a fantasy adventure set against an Indian cultural backdrop. The author shared her experiences as a writer and spoke about how stories, imagination, Indian traditions and oral storytelling can come together to create an exciting world for young readers. The book features fourteen-year-old Kritika, a custodian of dragon stories, who finds herself facing challenges much bigger than she expected.

During the interaction, Ms. Narayan spoke about the inspiration behind creating an Indian dragon fantasy rather than following conventional Western fantasy settings. She explained how the story evolved through rewriting and how she wanted young readers to see familiar Indian places, food, names and cultural elements within a fantasy world.

The author also shared valuable insights into the process of writing and developing characters. Students learnt that writing a book involves imagination, research, persistence, editing and the willingness to rewrite one's work. The discussion encouraged students to think about how their own experiences, observations and stories can become sources of creative writing.

The students participated enthusiastically and asked questions about the book, characters, dragons, storytelling and the author's journey as a writer. The interactive nature of the session gave students an opportunity to understand that authors, too, face challenges while creating stories and that perseverance is an important part of the creative process.

The author talk was an enriching experience for the students. It not only introduced them to a contemporary Indian children's fantasy author but also encouraged them to read more, ask questions, imagine freely and explore their own creativity through writing.

The Author Talk with Ms. Shobhita Narayan was a memorable and inspiring literary experience. The session successfully connected students with a living author and helped them understand that stories can emerge from imagination, culture, personal experiences and the world around us. It was a wonderful initiative towards nurturing young readers, creative thinkers and aspiring writers.