Students learn the art of writing with Scholastic Writing Awards 2016

New Delhi, 28th July 2016 - Scholastic, the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books, today announced the winners of 'Scholastic Writing Awards', a unique initiative by Scholastic India to encourage young artists and writers. Out of thousands of entries, 10 talented writers were selected by an esteemed panel of judges and the winning entries got published in the book "For Kids By Kids". Pranay Mathur, Chirec International School, Hyderabad; Vaaruni Sharma, Smt.Ramdevi Sobhraj Bajaj Arya Vidya Mandir, Mumbai; Saanvi Venkataraman, Salt Lake School, Kolkata received award in the grades 4-6 category. Arushi Debi Narayanan, Aditya Birla World Academy, Mumbai; Sagnik Anupam, Delhi Public School, Delhi and Soumya A.R., Delhi Public School, Noida received awards in grades 7-9 category.

A natural progression to learning is the expression of thought and Scholastic India has been encouraging this through Scholastic Writing Awards. The award recognises excellence in new writing and provides a platform to young talent to showcase their work and reach a wider audience. Aiming at nurturing new and original authors, Scholastic India has launched writing residency programme for the top ten children who will be groomed by Scholastic India to enhance the writing skills. Further, Scholastic India will offer book contracts to some of the children.

Speaking on the occasion Neeraj Jain, Managing Director, Scholastic India said, "Scholastic Writing Awards is a unique opportunity to showcase the best emerging literary talent across India. We are always astonished by the sheer energy and ingenuity of the creative work that students produce. The award is a collection of outstanding quality which will continue to spark the passion for new writing in children."

The competition witnessed participation from thousands of aspiring young authors from hundreds of schools across the country. The top 3 winners across two age groups were selected by an eminent panel of authors, including Annie Besant, Author; Benita Sen, Author; Lalita Iyer, Writer; Prashant Pinge, Fiction Author; Shabnam Minwalla, Journalist & Writer and Vanessa Ohri, Author. The top 25 entries were selected basis the peer to peer ranking method where every participant received an opportunity to assign points to three entries of the same age group. The top entries were further reviewed by the panel of authors deciding the top 3 winners.

Scholastic India strives to foster the habit of reading among the children and youth of the country. With an aim to offer the best from the world of books and other reading and learning materials, Scholastic India encourages children and the youth to read by creating unique programs in the form of book clubs and book fairs organized across schools of the country throughout the year.

With thousands of registrations from across India, Scholastic Writing Awards 2015 was a huge success. The awards went digital from 2015 to encourage more students to directly participate, instead of going through a selection process in school. This resulted in greater participation increasing it more than 100% since 2014.

About Scholastic India

Scholastic India is the largest children's publishing company in the country and strives to foster the habit of reading among the children and youth of the country. It recognizes that reading is one of the most essential forms of learning and encourages children and the youth to read by creating unique programs in the form of book clubs and book fairs organized across schools of the country throughout the year.

Scholastic India donates hundreds of thousands of books every year to make reading accessible to the underprivileged children in the country, through their annual property named One Nation Reading Together. On the day of this event, students across thousands of schools in India take a pledge for reading at least twenty minutes every day.