The new age literati

Remember the time when we, as kids, were introduced to books that we still hold close to us? Be it Roald Dahl, Charles Dickens, Ruskin Bond, R K Narayan or J K Rowling — these authors shaped our childhood for most of us. As inspired as the gen-next is from their writings, they’ve also been turning into authors themselves today! ‘As children, we know what other children want to read,’ is what they say.

As Chennai and the country at large has been witnessing the birth of many young published writers — most of them giving adult authors a run for their money — we speak to child authors, a few adult writers and publishers on what this could mean for the country’s literature space.

Chennai girl Ananya V. Ganesh, 11, recently joined this slowly-expanding club of young authors in the country, with her book 9 Chocolatey Bites. Ananya, who has also read the writings of fellow young writers, feels children can establish a better connect with the readers. “I feel when you’re a child author — since you’re a child yourself — you know what other children would like to read. You have a better understanding of how they think, the language they like to read, etc. I wish more children are encouraged to write, so we have more such authors,” she says.

The fact that children are exposed to a lot of new-age technology and information gets them slightly ahead of adult authors in this race, feels 36-year-old Shaiju Mathew, who has penned a few adventures for children. “My reference when I write for children becomes Enid Blyton, because I have read her books a lot. But children today have a better idea of what language they can use to connect with other kids.”

As publisher Naveen Valsakumar, CEO of Chennai-based Notion Press asserts, the kind of writings children can deliver is phenomenal. Sharing an incident, where a 10-year-old walked into his office first time, way back in 2012, to get his book published, Naveen says he was blown away by the knowledge the child had.

“He knew exactly what he was talking about — right up to the kind of cover he wanted and colours that should be used for his audience — which adult authors might not get right.  Children, these days, know more about the market than we understood as kids,” he shares, adding, that a majority of these young authors might not do that well in the market for their first titles, but deliver remarkably improved second books after they learn what works and what doesn’t.

10-year-old Shraddha Anu Shekar, who recently authored The Adventures of Morty, where she documents the chronicles of a turtle detective, concurs with the point that children’s imaginations have no bounds.

“It is interesting to see how other kids think and express their creativity. Most of the adult authors I have read tend to have something common in their approach. But when it comes to us, one can always expect new things,” she says.

Ruchira Mittal and Hemant Kumar, co-founders of the Delhi-based publishing house, Quill Club Writers, feel that we must look beyond teddy bears and fairytales when we’re looking at young writers of the current times. The books written by young students, published by Quill Club Writers, have been placed in the classrooms of many schools across the country as supplementary reading material.

“Most adults writing for children have been dumbing down lately, while we have kids who are producing astounding writings on topics that are so mature, giving these adults a good run for their money. The idea is to let people buy the books for what they are, and not because they were written by children!” Ruchira concludes.