My story "Mambally Bapu Takes the Cake," was one of the prizewinning stories
selected from among 142 entries in the 'Penfluenza International Short Story
Writing Contest, conducted by Writefluence.com in December 2020.
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Gopala
My stories have won awards at the ‘National Competition For Writers of Children’s Books’, organized by the ‘Children’s Book Trust’, New Delhi in the years
1) 2019 at the XX Competition for Writer's of Children's Books (two prizes in the category of short stories
(9-12 years)
2) 2016 at the XIX Competition for Writer's of Children's Books (A prize in Creative Non-fiction, (9-12 years)
A prize in Read-aloud Books/Picture Books, (5-8 years), 1st Prize in Get Ready for a Magical Time,(9-12 years),
2nd Prize in Concept Books, (3-5 years)
3) 2009 at the XVIII Competition for Writers of Children’s Books. (First prize, and one other prize in the category of Read Aloud/Picture Books (5-8 yrs) and a prize in Short story category (Sovereign Tales -9-12 years)
4) 2004 at the Competition for Concept Books (one prize)
5) 2001 at the XVI Competition for Writers of Children’s Books. (One prize in the category of school stories.)
6) 1999 at the XV Competition for Writers of Children’s Books. (Two prizes for short stories, and one for folk stories.)
7) 1997, at the XIV Competition for Writers of Children’s Books. (One prize for teenage stories, and one for folk stories)
8) 1994, at the XIII Competition for Writers of Children’s Books. (Two prizes for short stories, and one prize for picture books)
9) 1990, at the XII Competition for Writers of Children’s Books (one prize in picture book category, and one for read aloud books)
10) 1987, at the IX Competition for Writers of Children’s Books (one prize in the picture book category)
My story ‘The Clever Cure’ won the third prize at the Reliance Timeout – Unisun Writing Competition 2009-10, conducted by Unisun Publications Bangalore, in collaboration with Reliance Timeout, Cunningham Road, Bangalore.
They have also won awards at the ‘Tinkle Original Short story Competitions’ organized by (India Book House, Mumbai)
1) At the 5th Competition in 1995.
2) At the 6th Competition in 1996.
3) At the 8th Competition in 1998
My book ‘ Ice Cream Dragon and other Stories’ (Harper Collins, 1993) was prescribed as a textbook (English nondetail) by the ‘ Jessie Moses Matriculation School’ Chennai for Std. V. Two lakh copies of this book were also bought by ‘ Heinz Foods India Limited’, in December, 1996 for distribution with their product ‘ Complan’. Ice Cream Dragon is also available in an international edition.
Ice-Cream Dragon was prescribed as a textbook for the academic years 2001-2002, and 2002-04 by the ‘JamnaBai Narsee School’, (ICSE Board) Mumbai.
I was awarded a Junior Fellowship in Literature for a period of two years (August 1996-August 1998) by the Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, to write Historical Fiction for Children in the short story form.
I was awarded a Senior Fellowship in Literature for a period of two years (February 2002- February 2004) by the Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India. My project for this fellowship was ‘Children’s Literature In English In India – Its Growth and Development’.
In July 2001, I was the first Indian writer to win a scholarship to attend the annual Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop, held at Chautauqua, New York, in the United States. ‘Highlights For Children’, published from the USA, is the largest selling children’s magazine in the world, with a circulation of 3 million worldwide. The Chautauqua Conference, which has won renown, is a major event in children’s publishing in the USA, and has delegates attending from all over the world.
I was part of the visiting faculty of the Krishinchand Chellaram College, Churchgate, where I taught creative writing at the undergraduate level to the second year students of the BMM course (Bachelor of Mass Media) of The University of Mumbai
I have been invited to ‘Meet The Author’ sessions, and have conducted poetry readings and creative writing workshops at the following schools and institutions in Mumbai:
The British Council
ParleVile Tilak School, Parle
Arya Vidya Mandir School, Juhu.
Arya Vidya Mandir School, Santa Cruz.
Singhania School, Thane.
Bombay Scottish School, Powai.
Hiranandani School, Thane
Hiranandani School, Powai.
Jamna Bai Narsee School, Juhu.
D.A.V. CBSE School – Airoli
The American School Mumbai – Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai
The Avalon School, Vashi
OLPS School, Chembur
St. Antony’s Girls High School, Chembur
RBK International Academy, Chembur
Father Agnel’s Multipurpose School, Vashi, Navi Mumbai
Universal School, Tardeo
Woodstock School, Landour, Dehra Dun
Gopalan International School, Bangalore
I have also spoken on ‘How the Story Unfolds’ at The Somaiya College, Ghatkhopar.
In August 2002, I conducted a workshop on creating stories for pre-primary children for the teacher trainees at the Arya Vidya Mandir Early Childhood Education Course, Juhu.
I also wrote the script for the puppet play ‘Dum Dum Digha Digha’, which was staged and enacted by the teacher trainees of the “Arya Mandir Institute Of Education’, at the Arya Vidya Mandir School, Juhu, in January 2002. This play, staged in collaboration with Scholastic India Publishers, was viewed by eight thousand students studying in schools in Mumbai.
I wrote the script for the puppet play ‘Hide And Seek – The Values You Can Reach’ also staged and enacted by the teacher trainees of the “Arya Vidya Mandir Institute of Education” in January 2003. This play was also performed in collaboration with Scholastic India Publishers Ltd, and was viewed by ten thousand five hundred students studying in schools in Mumbai.
I have compiled the ‘Parent and Teacher Guide’, for the ‘Highlights Primary Education Foundation Programme’, (sold in India by Lotus Learning Private Limited) These are a set of educational books and CD’s for children, in the primary school classes. These books are published by ‘Highlights For Children’, the world’s most widely read children’s magazine, published from Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
I have also compiled the ‘Parent and Teacher Guide’ for the ‘Getting Ready For School Programme’, and for the ‘Primary Plus Programme’. Both these early learning programmes consist of products created by ‘Highlights For Children’, sold in India by Lotus Learning Private Limited.
I have compiled the educational ‘Curriculum Guide’ in January 2005 for the holistic Lotus Learning Educational Programme.
I was the Chairperson for the section on ‘Popular Literature – Children, Tweens, Young Adult and Adult,’ at the two day workshop on ‘The Semiotics of Violence in Popular Urban Indian Arts and Media,’ organized by the Department of English, University of Mumbai, at Kalina on 17th –18th December 2007.
My story ‘Sometimes Different is Delightful’ was selected in September 2009 by the National Foundation for Communal Harmony (an autonomous body under the Ministry of Home affairs, Government of India) to be published in a textbook on communal harmony, in English and Hindi, for students of Class V –X in schools across India. The book titled ‘One Big Family’ was published in 2010 By National Foundation for Communal Harmony P.p. 212 Rs. 250.
I was one of the writers invited to participate in an international conference ‘Magic Of the Word :Story telling for Ecological Conservation and Interracial Understanding,’ conducted by the Department of English, University of Mumbai and supported by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies on7th -9th October 2011.
I was the main resource person and conducted a workshop on Creative Writing for Children, ‘WRITE AND READ’, at Bandra, Mumbai. There were more than 200 participants aged 7-15 years, from different schools in Mumbai. The workshop was one in a series of similar workshops across different cities in India, organised by KATHA, a well known NGO in publishing and education, in collaboration with Hewlett Packard (HP) on October 21st and 22nd, 2011.
I was one of the 25 well known writers invited to present a paper on Children’s Literature in English at the Sahitya Akademi's ‘Colloquium on Indian Women Writers in English’, conducted jointly with Dept of English, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad on November 12th and 13th, 2011. My paper was on Gender Bias in Children’s Literature in India.
I was one of the judges who assessed the entries for the annual ‘Dharam S. Hinduja’ Essay Writing Competition for Lecturers,’ conducted by the K.P.B.Hinduja College of Commerce, Charni Road Mumbai in January 2012.
I was a mentor, critiquing the poetry written by schoolchildren in the ‘Mentoring Young Poets’, programme conceived by the ‘The Robin Age’ an award winning newspaper for children, (Mumbai) in collaboration with Katha Books, New Delhi, from February 2012 – March 2013.
I have been a judge for the poetry section for the 'Robin Age Bright Sparks ,' national writing competition for children since 2015.
I participated in the first Children’s Literary Festival conducted in Chembur by the Junior Writers Bug, Mumbai on April 21-22nd. I conducted two workshops ‘Wake up your Imagination’, and Storytelling.
I participated in the second Children’s Literary Festival conducted by the Junior Writer's Bug, Mumbai, at the Mahim Nature Park, Mumbai on December 7th and 8th 2013. I conducted a workshop for children aged 3-6 based on my picture book ‘Counting Clouds.’
I have been interviewed by the following publications:
The Indian Express – (Mumbai Newsline)
The Indian Express Hyderabad – (City News)
The Hindu Chennai – (Young World)
The Hindu Hyderabad – (Metro News)
Femina – Times of India Group, Mumbai, India
Vanitha – Malayalam Manorama Group, Kottyam, Kerala
