Neev lit fest draws kids in big numbers

Around 3,000 children, parents and educators attended the fifth edition of the Neev kids’ literature festival over the weekend in Bengaluru.

The two-day festival was held offline after a gap of three years.

Organised at the Neev Academy campus in Yemalur, it featured masterclasses, book reading and signing, and a marketplace with over 2,000 titles.

Topics ranging from retelling folktales to writing from conflict-hit zones and gender were discussed. Author Bijal Vaccharajani conducted a session on climate change. ‘She’s Alive’, a short film made by Sanctuary Asia, a wildlife conservation magazine, was also screened at the session. The need to make vernacular literature a part of the school curriculum outside the realm of examination was also mooted.

Seven-year-old Aadya, who was visiting from Delhi, enjoyed the storytelling sessions and collection of books on sale. Shruti, an 11-year-old from HSR Layout in the city, had come to meet authors and have books signed by them.

Rahul Raghavan was accompanied by around 40 students and a few teachers from the Montessori school he runs in the city. He described the fest as a “great forum for young book readers.”

The 2022 Neev Book Awards were held on the sidelines. ‘Bumoni’s Banana Trees’, ‘Jamlo Walks’, ‘When the World Went Dark’, and ‘Rain Must Fall’ won the categories of Early Years, Emerging Readers, Junior Readers, and Young Adults respectively.