After identifying a gap in the Indian children's literature market, the Neev Literature Festival (NLF) has launched the NLF Fellowship to writers and illustrators to produce children's books that capture Indian lives and experiences.
The NLF Fellowship will include a financial grant to research and write the book over the period of a year. Besides the financial support, the grant will also include mentorship, editorial support, and greater visibility of the works produced, said the NLF in a press release.
"The NLF Fellowships will support selected book creators with a grant of 6 Lakhs each for a period of one year for researching and writing their book...With this novel initiative, NLF aims to facilitate engaging children’s books that capture a slice of India or Indians that is so deeply authentic, moving and immersive that it brings alive an aspect of India—pre and post-Independence," said the release.
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NLF Co-founder Kavita Gupta Sabharwal noted that children's books market in India is swamped by international books and NLF Fellowship seeks to fill this gap.
Sabharwal said, "In a fragmented market that is swamped with international children’s literature and a publishing ecosystem that has traditionally under invested in Children’s literature from India, the NLF Fellowships aim to fill a gap that will hopefully encourage Indian writers to embark on imaginative, ambitious and research-driven literature for Indian audiences that is rooted in Indianness."
The NLF Fellowship comes after a report commissioned by the NLF found that children's literature comprised up to 25 per cent of sales.
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"The report revealed that Indian children’s and young adult publishing was estimated to be about 25 per cent of the total trade market in India in 2019-2020 (INR 28.24 billion), thereby pegging its value to be INR 7.206 billion (as per the 2022 India Book Market Report by Nielsen)," said the NLF release.
The NLF Fellowship applications will open on March 31 and will close on June 30. The Fellows will be announced in October during the NLF. The Currently, the jury includes NLF Co-founder Sabharwal, Storywallahs founder Ameen Haque, and NLF Director Karthika Gopalakrishnan.
Proposals of all genres of books will be considered for NLF Fellowship, including picture books, graphic novels, and both fiction and non-fiction. The fellowship is open to Indian citizens and residents of Indian origin.
