shyamala's world

Veteran children's author and poet, Santhini Govindan , recently received a fellowship from the Government of India. In this interview she shares  details about her fellowship and latest books.                                                        1. This is the third time that you have been awarded a fellowship. What makes a fellowship so appealing to you? I was awarded my first fellowship (a Junior Fellowship in Literature for two years) in August 1996 by the Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, to write h istorical fiction for children in the short story form. I am greatly interested in history, so I really enjoyed researching and writing these stories. The next fellowship I got (a two year Senior Fellowship) was in 2002. This was for a completely different subject. The fellows...

Kahani Takbak’s first birthday celebrations ended yesterday. Santhini Govindan is an award winning author of children's literature with over 50 published books. She writes for all age groups, but enjoys writing in verse best.  Yesterday’s session on Manuscripts and Mayhem with the senior author and editor, was held on Facebook. The following are questions asked by the participants in the live chat. The most original ideas are taken... Someone said there are no original ideas - we just have to rework them using our own thoughts and ideas... Can't we just treat that idea differently? Absolutely! In fact that's the key - give your own spin to an idea. Do you write the first draft in one fast flow and revise it later, like some advocate? I asked that because they say don't do corrections as you write; it may stop the flow. I have that habit of correcting as I go. It all depends on how the story goes, and how the muse sings. Some stories however, j...