SCRF23: Indian writer Khyrunnisa A. encourages Sharjah's children to read more
"Butterfingers" is thirteen years old and her name is Amar Kishen. The writer first started publishing her stories in the children's magazine "Tinkle". Now, numerous books have been published by Puffin, part of Penguin Random House India, and her readers are everywhere.
The Sharjah students had the opportunity to listen to the experiences of their creator with whom they had a dynamic and rich dialogue. The children's hands were raised to solve their curiosities and, like real journalists, they asked questions of all kinds to which, sometimes with surprise and sometimes with laughter, the writer answered. And between questions and answers, Khyrunnisa A. sent out an important message: that they should read and not be superstitious.
Khyrunnisa A. told the children that she always liked school stories, since she was a child herself, "not fantasy or horror, just fun school stories" and how important it is to write about things that you enjoy, that you feel comfortable with.
But before writing, she explained that what she really loved was reading, "I'm a great reader", she said, a hobby that has been with her since she was a child. Writing came later, when she wrote a story for a competition.
One of the children wanted to know if she would write scary stories, to which she replied that she would not. The writer recalled that a student had asked her to do so, but she didn't feel comfortable writing these kinds of horror and supernatural stories. "In the 'Butterfingers' adventures, the first story in the novel is 'Ghost and Green Park School' and there are ghosts, that's the most I've ever written horror, but it's not horror, it's just fun. When you read the story, you'll understand," she told the schoolboy.
She was also asked about her role model: "I don't have a role model", replied the writer who, however, did talk about the influence of English writers such as P. G. Wodehouse, Jerome K. Jerome and Bill Bryson, "who writes everything from charmingly humorous journeys to really very interesting books".
And among other topics, and after telling how much she enjoyed writing "Smash il, Butterfingers!", the seventh book in her series, the writer delved into the world of superstition, how we still believe that a black cat is bad luck if it crosses our path or that going under a flight of stairs will bring bad luck. "I feel very unhappy when I see children being superstitious," confessed Khyrunnisa, who said that we have misconceptions about superstition and that her wish, something she tries to do through her works, "is that we become more rational".
Jikar Khorshid and Mary Matar
And while some children were enjoying the Indian writer, others were enjoying the Syrian-Dutch writer and poet, Jikar Khorshid, who has written more than 300 books in different Arab countries, at the Cultural Forum.
Hailing from The Hague, this author, winner of numerous distinctions, such as the Sharjah Prize for Arab Creativity, shared with his young audience his experiences in writing and creating some of his books.
His works include "Where does the sky end?", a beautiful journey in which the protagonist encounters different animals, a lion, a whale..., while searching for the answer to the title of the book: an endless sky.
At the end of their turn, the students had another fun meeting with the Lebanese writer Mary Matar in which there was no shortage of songs and games.