Category: In the Press

  • The 4th Anita’s Attic Lecture and Season 7 Graduation | You are invited

    The 4th Anita’s Attic Lecture

    Theodore-BhaskaranThe Annual Attic Lecture Series seeks to celebrate the power of literature and its presence in our lives. Anita’s Attic is proud to present “Nature Writing – The Dimensions” by S. Theodore Baskaran, as this year’s annual Attic Lecture.

    In an illustrious career spanning several decades, S. Theodore Baskaran has written innumerable critically acclaimed articles and books, in both Tamil and English. His second book, The Eye of the Serpent (1996) won the National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema in 1997. Mr. Baskaran is an avid conservationist, a former honorary wildlife warden and the South India Representative of the International Primate Protection League. A former trustee of the Indian arm of the World Wildlife Fund, he is a regular contributor on conservation for The Hindu and the Frontline magazine. Mr. Baskaran is also a former Chief Postmaster General for the state of Tamil Nadu.

    The development of literature has closely followed the evolution of civilization. Over the centuries, literature has grown from merely documenting progress to influencing human thought and becoming a harbinger of global change. From education to entertainment, from religion to revolution, literature permeates every aspect of civilization.

    Anita’s Attic – Season 7 Finale

    Join twelve writers, mentored by Anita Nair, as they present their literary work through a performance entitled Under the Purple Sky

    Anita’s Attic, a twelve-week creative writing mentorship program by renowned author Anita Nair, concludes its seventh season with a graduation ceremony and a unique narrative performance based on a post-apocalyptic theme. Twelve budding writers will present their gripping adventures in this eerie world, written especially for this event, at Rangasthala, Rangoli Metro Theatre on Saturday, 31st August, at 5:15 pm.

    The graduating class of 2019 consists of authors, poets and screenwriters spanning multiple genres – from crime, fantasy and literary fiction to the magical world of children’s fiction and the timeless wisdom of Health & Well-being. The writers hail from diverse walks of life, across India and the world. They are driven by one common motive – to produce well-crafted, qualitative and compelling work that gives form to each of their individual, literary ‘voices’.

    The Attic’s graduation event is being partnered by Namma Metro and Bangalore’s famed Rangoli Metro Art Center. The Center has been a long-standing patron of the fine arts and is host to a variety of cultural programs, public installations, and a steady stream of innovative ideas.

    For further details, contact: info@anitasattic.com

  • The Hindu – MetroPlus | In drama and dissent

    Sooraj Rajmohan
    SEPTEMBER 18, 2018 16:35 IST
    UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 18, 2018 16:35 IST
     

    Comic artist Appupen spoke of the importance of artistic integrity at the graduation event of the sixth edition of Anita Nair’s creative writing course

     
    A rainy Bengaluru evening saw a new batch of writers achieve a milestone at the Rangasthala theatre at Rangoli Metro Art Centre. The graduation event for the sixth season of writer Anita Nair’s creative writing course and mentorship programme, Anita’s Attic, had popular comic artist Appupen deliver the third Attic Lecture on The Magic of Dissent.

    The event started with Nair talking about the difficult, and sometimes unrewarding, craft that is writing, and why it is important to respect one’s own work. “An uncle of mine was an artist,” she said, “he always said to never do anything for free, because then the recipient will never respect the work. Writing is a lottery. Sometimes bad writers make huge sums of money while good writers remains in anonymity for their lives.”

    Read the complete report

  • Manorama Online | നർമഭാഷയിലൂടെ ചിന്തകൾ ആഴത്തിൽ പതിപ്പിക്കാം: ജോർജ് മാത്തൻ l

    മനോരമ ലേഖകൻ SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 12:51 AM IST

    ബെംഗളൂരു∙ നർമഭാഷയിലൂടെ ഏതു ഭിന്നാഭിപ്രായവും സമൂഹത്തിന്റെ ചിന്തകളിലേക്ക് ആഴത്തിൽ പതിപ്പിക്കാനാകുമെന്നു കോമിക് രചയിതാവും വിഷ്വൽ ആർട്ടിസ്റ്റും സംഗീതകാരനുമായ അപ്പൂപ്പൻ (ജോർജ് മാത്തൻ). ഇന്ത്യൻ ഇംഗ്ലിഷ് എഴുത്തുകാരി അനിതാ നായരുടെ നേതൃത്വത്തിലുള്ള ക്രിയാത്മക രചനാ പഠനകേന്ദ്രമായ അനിതാസ് അറ്റിക്കിന്റെ ബിരുദദാന ചടങ്ങിൽ ‘ഭിന്നാഭിപ്രായങ്ങളുടെ മായാജാലം’ എന്ന വിഷയത്തിൽ പ്രഭാഷണം നടത്തുകയായിരുന്നു കലാകൂട്ടായ്മയായ ബ്രെയിൻഡെഡ് ഇന്ത്യയുടെ സ്ഥാപക എഡിറ്റർ കൂടിയായ അപ്പൂപ്പൻ.

    Season-6-Graduation-Ceremony-Anitas-Attic-Rangasthala-2

    സമൂഹത്തിൽ, ഭൂരിപക്ഷങ്ങളുടെ അഭിപ്രായങ്ങൾ അടിച്ചേൽപിക്കുന്നതിനെ ചോദ്യം ചെയ്യാൻ വേറിട്ട ഇത്തരം ശബ്ദങ്ങൾക്കാകും. സമൂഹത്തെ നേർവഴിക്കു തിരിച്ചുവിടാൻ ഇത് അനിവാര്യമാണെന്നും കോട്ടയം പള്ളം സ്വദേശി കൂടിയായ അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞു. മേരി റോയിയുടെ ‘പള്ളിക്കൂടം’ സ്കൂളിൽ നിന്നു പകർന്നുകിട്ടിയ, വേറിട്ട അഭിപ്രായ പ്രകടന വാസനയാണു ഗ്രാഫിക് നോവലുകളായ മൂൺവാർഡ്, ലജൻഡ്സ് ഓഫ് ഹലഹല, ആസ്പൈറസ്, ദ് സ്നേക് ആൻഡ് ദ ലോട്ടസ് എന്നിവയിലൂടെയും രാഷ്ട്രമാൻ എന്ന സൂപ്പർഹീറോ കഥാപാത്രത്തിലൂടെയും രാഷ്ട്രീയഹാസ്യമായ ഡിസ്റ്റോപ്യൻ ടൈംസിലൂടെയും തുടർന്നുപോരുന്നത്.

    Appupen-at-the-Graduation-Ceremony-Season-6-Anitas-Attic

    അനിതാസ് അറ്റിക്കിന്റെ ആറാമത്തെ ബാച്ചിൽ പഠിച്ചിറങ്ങിയ 12 പേർക്കുള്ള ബിരുദ സർട്ടിഫിക്കറ്റുകളും സമ്മാനിച്ചു. തുടർന്നു 12 പേരും ചേർന്നെഴുതിയ കഥയുടെ വായന നടന്നു. നവതലമുറ എഴുത്തുകാർക്കിടയിലെ സർഗാത്മകത പരിപോഷിപ്പിക്കുന്നതിനായി നടന്നുവരുന്ന കോഴ്സ് ഡിജിറ്റൽ പാർട്ണറായ കണ്ടീഷൻസ് അപ്ലൈയുമായി സഹകരിച്ചാണു സംഘടിപ്പിച്ചുവരുന്നത്.

  • The 3rd Anita’s Attic Lecture and Season 6 Graduation | You are invited

    The-3rd-Anitas-Attic-Lecture-and-Season-6-Graduation

    Join twelve authors for an evening of ‘Heresay On The Metro’ showcasing their literary strengths at the Rangoli – Metro Art Center on 14 September 2018 at 5.00 pm.

     
    Anita’s Attic, India’s premier ‘literary mentorship program’ helps aspiring writers hone ‘The Art of Storytelling’ across multiple genres. This intense twelve-week workshop conducted by the celebrated author Anita Nair not only enables literary talents to find their voice but also introduces them to established writers, publishers and agents who visit ‘The Attic’ every week.

    The graduating batch of Season 6 comprises I.P consultants, art curators, knowledge managers, visual communicators, technologists, homemakers, marketers and digital strategists. What binds these diverse folks together is their friendship with words and an overwhelming desire to become published authors someday. To mark their graduation, they have collaboratively spun a satirical tale on the power of rumors, fake news and gossip, called “Hearsay On The Metro.”

    The evening will also host the 3rd Annual Attic Lecture by Appupen, on the subject “The Magic of Dissent“.

    A comics creator, visual artist and musician, Appupen tells stories from the mythical dimension called Halahala.
    Appupen has been creating the mythology of Halahala since 2005 and his first graphic novel, ‘Moonward’ was published by Blaft in 2009. Then came ‘Legends of Halahala’ and ‘Aspyrus’, both from Harper Collins. His fourth graphic novel, ‘The Snake and the Lotus’, is published by Amazon-Westland, 2018. Appupen launched his online comic series with the popular superhero satire ‘Rashtraman’ and the politically charged ‘Dystopian Times’ in 2015. He is the founder/editor of Brainded India, an arts collective with an agenda. Join us for an exciting audio-visual presentation that brings alive the magic of dissent as seen through Appupen’s eyes.

    The Attic Lecture will be followed by the Season 6 Graduation Event of Anita’s Attic.

  • Sathya RG ‘s book “It’s a Mom Thing” by Rupa Publications is now on stands !

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    Anita’s Attic Alumni Sathya RG ( Season 1) ‘s new book
    “It’s a Mom Thing” is now out on stands and for
    purchase online at Amazon.

    Anita Nair had this to say of Sathya’s momentous achievement, “I often tell my writers at the Attic that what turns a writer into a published author is a sense of purpose and an inner resilience. Right from the beginning Season 1 writer Sathya Ramaganapathy had that clarity of vision and a sharp sense of focus. Not to mention the fact that the book she was working on was deliciously funny, insightful and totally kick-ass.”

    What could be a prouder moment for us than this!

    Congratulations Sathya!

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    Dreaming of becoming a published writer?

    Inquire and join our next season.

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  • Anita Nair’s Lessons in Forgetting ( The Lilac House in US) shortlisted for the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize

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    Anita Nair’s Lessons in Forgetting (2010) as The Lilac House in the US region has been shortlisted for the first edition of the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize, awarded annually in the honor of Rabindranath Tagore, Indian author and the first non-European Nobel prize winner for Literature.

    The Rabinthranath Tagore Literary Prize

    The Tagore Prize is a legacy to Rabindranath Tagore, his outstanding contribution to Indian and international literature, as well as to the cultural, educational and humane ideas he pursued throughout his life.
    Accordingly, the criteria for winning the award are:

    creativity, outstanding literary relevance, promotion of peace and national, cultural and religious tolerance, preserving linguistic and cultural heritage, and being socially conscious in character.

    The prize will be awarded for one extraordinary piece of work, or as a lifetime achievement. In the latter case, at least one representative piece of work should be available in English.
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    The opening ceremony and the first presentation of the award will be held on April 11th, 2018 from 6 pm to 9 pm in New Delhi, in the premises of India International Center (IIC). The laureate will receive US$ 10,000, and a diploma.

    Do keep following the https://www.facebook.com/tagoreprize/ for updates and the announcement.

  • Anita’s Attic Season 4 Graduation Day in The Hindu | Taking a writer’s call

    “There is nothing to writing,” said Ernest Hemingway, “All you have to do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Writing is an act of courage, of putting thoughts to paper and telling an untold story within you.

    But unknown to most, there are various kinds of literary phobias. The writers at Anita Nair’s fourth graduation ceremony dealt with 12 such phobias in their works and spun short stories and poetry around them.

    The ceremony held at Rangastala, Rangoli Metro Art Centre, last week began with an insightful lecture — ‘The Hidden Life of Words’ by Suresh Menon. He spoke about how some nuanced emotions sometimes escape expression. He also observed: “Words are charged with meanings, popular culture, movies, the television. We have no control over how words can be distorted.

    Patriotism, for example, has now come to mean being intolerant towards another point of view, and does not mean just love for the country.”

    The first to read her story was Shreya Dasgupta on verbophobia, the fear of words, about a grandfather who is censured for openly disagreeing to call familiar street names by their new, nationalised names.

    Preethi Venugopala’s story was about graphophobia, the fear of writing, in which she explored how an innocuous tweet on a superstar makes an author cautious of writing. Sruti Sagaram’s story was about philosophobia, the fear of philosophy, in which the protagonist overcomes it. Debleena Roy read out her poem about metrophobia, a fear of poetry.

    Leadership coach Subash C.V. read out his story on mythophobia on how a young village boy overcame his fear of myths.

    Jean Spraker read out her story on gnosiophobia, fear of knowledge, that dealt with a young librarian living in a regime where learning and knowledge have been banned, and yet keeps a secret library in his house.

    Radhika Jayaraman read out her story about a boy’s fear of paper, called papyrophobia.

    Mumukshu Mohanty wrote a story on fear of long words, and humorously remarked that it was ironic that the term (too long to be written here, too) is a long word. Her story was about the suspense-filled life of a screenplay writer. It was the first time that Anjali Soni had written a short story which was set in the Mughal era, about bibliophobia, the fear of books.

    Vedanarayanan Vedantham, a marketer who moonlights as a creative writer, read out his story about a man who suffers from symbolophobia, the fear of symbols. Jinasree next read out her story on scriptophobia, the fear of writing in public. The event concluded with Harshad Karmalkar’s story about sophophobia, fear of learning, a unique retelling of Abhimanyu’s Chakravuyh.

    Read the actual report as it appeared in The Hindu here

  • Anita’s Attic in the Sunday Magazine of the New Indian Express

    ASFL---Anita-Nair

  • Physician, heal thyself| Collaborative Fiction from Anita’s Attic Season 2 in The Bangalore Mirror

    I could get addicted to this rush of seeing my mentees work in print.

    Proud mentor moment again as the third piece of collaborative fiction by Anita’s Attic Season 2 writers published this morning in the Bangalore Mirror.

    Take a bow Vani Menon, Raksha Kumar, Peter Vas and Adithya Ravi.

    And thank you again Bangalore Mirror.

    An Excerpt

    “Balu,” said somebody at the door. The doctor looked up into the tired eyes of Hargopal.
    “Urgent,” Hargopal said and left as swiftly as he showed up.
    Dr Balu suddenly became stiff. He got up and patted the boy. “You’ll be alright. Nothing to worry.” He briskly walked to the door and looked outside at the row of patients waiting for him at the reception area.
    He made his way to the rear entrance of the building that housed his clinic in a converted garage. The familiar white tempo-traveller with its window curtains pulled across was parked close to the compound wall. Hargopal was nowhere in sight. The tempo-traveller’s door slid open as soon as he approached it. He was pulled in by Hargopal and the door slid shut quickly.
    “All clear,” crackled a walkie-talkie. Dr Balu understood that Shanmugham Street was now under surveillance.

     
    Read the complete story online here
     

  • Rahul Warrier’s “A night of stories ” published in The Madras Mag

    Rahul Warrier’s “A night of stories” has been published in The Madras Mag – an independent literary magazine from India.

    Excerpt

    The stage awaits the story tellers – the “aatta vilakku” is lit before the performance begins, and stays up all night along with the spell-bound audience, mesmerized by the stories unfurling on stage.

    Read the complete version here.