In just a few weeks, yet another writing programme will come to an end! Yesterday was the third and last guest session of the season--a creative writing workshop with children's book author Sowmya Rajendran.I love it when guests reinforce something I've been talking about for a while. During yesterday's session, it was 'write what you know'. Of course, I do give children the opposite advice too--write what you don't know--but the point, for me, is to bring stories into familiar contexts.When Sowmya told us about how her book Mayil Will Not Be Quiet was born, she stressed that she and her co-author Niveditha Subramaniam wanted to write a book about being a child in India. What is it like to go to an Indian school? What sort of conversations do we have at home? This idea is well worth repeating, especially as most children continue to write stories about Michael and Felicity, who … [Read more...]
Mayil Will Not Be Quiet!
I woke up in the middle of the night, frowning. I had a bit of a story in my head, and I could not remember who had written it. It was one of the Mary's girls, I thought ... A young writer, I was sure. Maybe one of the sixth standard girls?And then I realised, it was Mayil Ganeshan.That's what I admired most about Mayil Will Not Be Quiet! The voice was so authentic that the book never once felt like it was written by two adults trying to write like a child. Each entry in this diary-like book rings true. Some entries are short; some are long, just the way mine used to be when I wrote regularly at Mayil's age (about 12). One big difference between her entries and mine is that I could not (and cannot) draw, so I don't have such a pretty diary!Quirky and beautifully honest, Mayil Will Not Be Quiet! gripped me on the first page - and I really mean the first page. … [Read more...]