All workshops need prior registration and are on a first-come-first-served basis.
Though we welcome registrations for multiple workshops, multiple registrations for the same workshop will lead to your application being rejected.
Q & A with R & D: Ravinder Singh & Durjoy Datta on writing…
10 AM - 11 AM
Max. Participants - 100
No age limit
An interactive, intimate session where literary heartthrobs Ravinder and Durjoy answer all your questions. Tips, tricks, twists,tales, titillating tidbits and more…
Ravinder Singh
Bio
Considered as the King of Romance, Ravinder Singh is a well-known bestselling author from India. An ISB alumnus and an ex Sr. Prog Manager at Microsoft, Ravinder once realized it's more fun writing stories than computer programmes. Now a full time storyteller, he has sold more than 3.5 million copies of his novels. He also runs a publishing venture named Black Ink, where he publishes debut authors.
Durjoy Datta
Bio
Durjoy Datta is the bestselling author of eleven novels – Of Course I Love You!, Now That You’re Rich, She Broke Up, I Didn’t, Ohh Yes, I’m Single!, You Were My Crush, If It’s Not Forever!, Till The Last Breath, Someone Like You, and Hold My Hand, When Only Love Remains and Worlds Best Boyfriend. All his novels have found prominence in various bestseller lists and continue to feature in them. His books predominantly deal with subjects of love, relationships, disability, drug abuse, sexuality and death. He is the co-founder of Grapevine India Publisher Pvt. Ltd., a mainstream English language publisher which promotes young talent in the publishing industry. He is also a motivational speaker and has spoken in over 100 colleges and schools on the topics of entrepreneurship, writing, marketing, passions etc. He also has to his credit five television shows – Sadda Haq (Channel V) and Veera (Star Plus), amongst others. A graduate from Delhi College of Engineering and Management Development Institute, he worked in the power engineering sector and the banking sector for a few years before quitting it to pursue his entrepreneurial and writing dreams.
How to write great Chillers and Thrillers with Zac O’Yeah
11 AM - 1 PM
Max. Participants - 50
No age limit
Interactive session during which Zac O’Yeah discusses the methods that writers use to create suspense and thrills, so that their novels become real page-turners. He also talks about what makes good writing good and why bad writing is usually always very boring writing, and how to hone one’s writing skills. Participants are encouraged to ask questions and join in the discussion. This popular workshop has been featured at Chennai’s Lit for Life, Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (thrice), Jaipur Literature Festival (twice), in Delhi at JNU, at Goa International Centre and other venues.
Zac O’Yeah
Bio
Zac O’Yeah is a Swedish detective novelist and author of the Majestic Trilogy, which is set in his Indian hometown Bengaluru. He has published 18 books including several fiction and nonfiction bestsellers. His Gandhi biography Mahatma! was ranked as the best nonfiction book in Sweden in 2008. His travel writings have appeared in magazines such as National Geographic Traveller, Outlook Traveller, RES and Vagabond, and also been included in a huge number of anthologies. All in all, he has written for nearly 100 different publications and he is currently a columnist with the BusinessLine newspaper. His writings have been translated into German, French, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Russian, Chinese, Italian, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Hindi, Gujarati, Assamese and other languages. He is a founder-director of Bangalore’s World-Famous Semi-Deluxe Writing Programme, the first semi-professional writing school in India. His most recent books include the novel Tropical Detective and the travelogue A Walk Through Barygaza and the children’s book The Mystery of the Cyber Friend. In 2020, his travel story “Looking for Malgudi” was featured in the anthology The Best Asian Travel Writing. He also composes music with the pop group The Ändå whose latest hit “You!” was released in 2020. Read more on www.zacoyeah.com
The Out of Print ‘Short Fiction Workshop’- with Indira Chandrashekar
1 PM - 3 PM
Max. Participants - 20
Age limit - 18+
On crafting short fiction:
– place your story
– reveal your story
– engage your reader
– short fiction, not reportage
And discuss some of the many pitfalls and difficulties writers face…
Indira Chandrasekhar
Bio
Indira Chandrasekhar is the founder and principal editor of Out of Print, an online magazine for short fiction connected to the Indian subcontinent. Her stories have appeared, among other places, in Cosmonauts Avenue, Far Enough East, rkvry, Eclectica and The Little Magazine, and won awards and been shortlisted, most notably in the Mslexia short story competitions. She is the co-editor of Pangea: An Anthology of Stories from Around the Globe, Thames River Press, 2012. Indira has a PhD in Biophysics and used to study the dynamics of biological membranes at research institutes in India, the United States and Switzerland. She convenes the Executive Council of the G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture in Mumbai.