Who We Are :
The Centre for Writing is a group of faculty and students keen on keeping the thrill and the essence of writing alive through curated activities throughout the year. The Centre for Writing aims to bolster the processes of academic and non-academic reading and writing for the University community. Using the arts and methods of reading, writing and communication across genres, it endeavours to vivify the many layers that inform engagement with writing. It envisions thinking about writing in its varied manifestations and purposes. How does one write for many audiences? At the Centre for Writing, we attempt answering this question in as many ways as possible.
What We Do :
- The Centre endeavours to help students hone their academic and creative writing skills through workshops, talks, and other activities.
- It supports the writing courses at VU by offering additional opportunities for students who need to further improve their writing skills.
- To foster a culture of reading and writing, the Centre runs a Reading Club for discussions on reading and the writing process, and periodically invites prominent authors for talks and lectures.
- Eventually, the Centre aims to offer holistic, one-on-one writing guidance for students.
Team:
Dr. Neha Khurana
Assistant Professor, School of Liberal Arts & Design Studies & School of Legal Studies & Governance PhD & UGC-NET in English Literature Convener
Dr. Tania Islam
Assistant Professor, School of Liberal Arts and Design Studies M.A. and Ph.D. in English, Temple University, U.S.A. Member
Dr. Jobeth Ann Warjri
Assistant Professor, School of Liberal Arts and Design Studies, Ph.D. in English Literature, University of Hyderabad Member
Student Assistants :
Events/Workshops/Seminars:
On the 8th of November 2023, the Centre for Writing organised a workshop titled “Making Writing Work” with noted poet and Indic scholar, Dr. Mani Rao. Dr. Rao spoke about the intricacies of writing poetry and how one can harness the power of poetry to express what one truly feels in the form of imagistic writing and lyric. The workshop was attended by around 100 students who had read the poems circulated to them by the poet in advance and interacted excitedly with the poet during the workshop and after.
As students of the 2022 batch were ready to embark on their internship journeys, the Centre for Writing in association with Career Services (VU) organised a hands-on workshop to equip them with skills to create effective curriculum vitae and resumes on January 19, 2024. Dr. Neha Khurana and Dr. Tania Islam facilitated this workshop and approached the process of CV and resume-building in a step-by-step manner. Given that most students would have no or very little prior experience of working professionally and applying for jobs, this workshop focussed on helping students identify their skills and find ways of demonstrating those in their CVs through various projects and extra-curricular activities that they may have undertaken through college life. This workshop was followed, in the next two weeks, by one-on-one feedback sessions conducted by the Student Assistants of the Centre for Writing. Based on prior appointments, the Student Assistants (Tanushree Nagaveni, Aastha Basu, Nikita Patil, Shreya Math, Aditya Ravidas) met with their peers and advised them on enhancements in their CVs. The workshop was coordinated by Ms. Shubha Rohith, Associate Director of Career Services (VU).
On the 16th of April 2024, the Centre for Writing organised a writing workshop with Mr. Karthik Venkatesh, a publisher at Penguin Random House, India. He spoke about his book, 10 Indian Languages and How They Came to Be, and the history of how languages were made official languages in India. Mr. Venkatesh addressed multilingualism in his talk and how most people in India are born multilingual, influencing the way they write. Written submissions by the participants received editorial feedback from Mr. Venkatesh.
On the 17th of September 2024, the Centre for Writing conducted a workshop on the ethical uses of AI in academic writing with Ms. Sowmiya Rani of Cactus Publications. Ms. Rani addressed many concerns that the VU participants had regarding the use of AI in writing. Her talk focused on how AI can be used ethically and responsibly in academia and what the consequences are for the unethical use of AI.
On the 12th of November 2024, the Centre for Writing organised a workshop titled “Stories Without a Plot” conducted by Mr. Prabhakaran B., a professor of Business Studies at VU. Mr. Prabhakaran spoke about storytelling and how presentations can be built around stories. The participants of the workshop also learned about how storytelling plays a central role in the branding of a product and the impact that the story has on the consumer/listener.
On the 1st of April 2025, the Centre for Writing conducted a fiction writing masterclass with the award-winning writer, Ms. Shinie Antony. Ms. Antony spoke about what the right ingredients of a story are and the mechanics of storytelling and writing. Engaging activities done by the participants, such as writing poems and constructing short and surprising narratives about oneself, were used to illustrate the central topics of her talk.
