A freewheeling discussion on creative writing christened as ‘Wordsmith’ was organised by the Department of English of Indian Education School, Kuwait, for its aspiring writers on 23rd January, in the school auditorium. The session got underway in the presence of Mr. N. K Ramachandran Menon, Founder and Chairman, Bhavans Middle East, Mr. T. Premkumar, Principal, Indian Educational School, Ms. Anselma Tessy Judeson, Vice Principal, Senior Wing, Ms. Jaemi Byju, Vice Principal, Middle Wing, Ms. Meenakshi Nayyar, Vice Principal, Co-Curricular activities and Ms. Lalitha Premkumar, Vice Principal, KG & Primary Wings, the teachers of IES, parents, selected panel members and students of IES.
Liana Maria Joseph of grade 11 delivered the welcome speech. Mr. Sajan Sudevan, the Head of the Department of English, gave a snapshot of the concept of Wordsmith. He shared his perceptions on creativity and gave ample tips on creative writing. He reiterated that stacking up adjectives before nouns will not help creative writing. The focus has to be on verbs and the writer should visualise words.
Mr. T. Premkumar, Principal, IES, appreciated the Department of English for the unique initiative and suggested that the process of thinking is yet another prominent factor for creative writing and added that if one has the interest, one can develop the writing skill and for that one must learn, unlearn and relearn.
The discussion gained momentum with Ms. Lalitha Premkumar, Vice Principal, KG & Primary Wings, pointing out that reading invokes multiple senses and introducing intriguing characters and evoking stray emotions will help one write an extraordinary literary piece of work. Selected students from grades 8, 9 and 11 enunciated their perceptions enthusiastically on creative writing with ample tips, citing examples from various literary works and quoting many prolific writers and their styles. Some of the points discussed were that the writers should observe a lot and obviously, think out of box, never go with the set rules, use anecdotes, phrases, idioms, proverbs, great quotes, use synonyms, use extended metaphors etc.
The animated discussion threw up interesting insights into creative writing and parents too chipped in with their thoughts and suggestions. Parents of IES- Ms Manjula, Ms Sudha , Mr Shibu P Alex, Ms Sheeba Raj, Ms Hetal Sanjhvi, Ms Shalin, Ms Anita, Ms Minu, Ms Hyma and Ms Rani explored the nuances of creative writing. Mr. Sajan Sudevan, the HOD of English, promised to have similar discussions in the future since Bhavans teems with creative students. He wrapped up the discussion by expressing his sincere gratitude to parents on behalf of the Department of English and appreciated the panelists for sharing their thoughts on creative writing.