New Delhi, 5 August, 2015: Julia Regul Singh, the author of the children’s book, Boris the Bench, will be speaking at the Jumpstart Festival on August 18, 2015 at India International Centre, New Delhi. An initiative of the German Book Office New Delhi supported by the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, Jumpstart is India's only annual congress of children's content creators since 2009 that brings together hundreds of professionals - designers, artists, educators, publishers, booksellers and storytellers from the world of children’s books. The theme for Jumpstart 2015 is: ‘Get Storyfied! What is a story?’ Julia, who has also worked as an urban planner and urban designer in Germany and the US before turning to writing, will be participating in the panel discussion, “Storydust” exploring the elements of a good story: plot, characterization, writing style, illustration, visualization and a combination of all these.
Sharing her views, Julia said, “Stories are not only important for us to learn new lessons, they are essential in teaching our children about the world around them. Telling or reading our children stories is the closest way to have them experience “learning by doing” in the comfort of their parents’ laps. A good story should, therefore, help children learn new things about their lives and the world we live in. The key message should be conveyed in a highly simplified yet engaging manner to keep a child interested in the story. Empowering children with tales that highlight the values of humanity, love and compassion which can help nurture future generations into better human beings.” She added, “Stories spark their imaginations and make them realize that they are amongst others in similar situations and that there are many ways of dealing with life. I know it works when my 8 year old son tells me – after I am trying to explain him that he can’t keep calling me over and over again unless it is an emergency – and he says “Yes mom I understand, it is just like in the story with the boy who cried wolf!”
Other panelists include illustrator Nicki Greenberg and writer Leonie Norrington from Australia and screenwriter Motti Aviram from Israel. The panel will be moderated by Sayoni Basu, publisher and founder of Duckbill Books.
Julia has also authored Leap of Faith, a fictional account of an Indo-German wedding that emphasises on need for cross-cultural tolerance in today’s globalized world in a funny and warm manner.
About Jumpstart 2015:
Jumpstart 2015 is an initiative of the German Book Office New Delhi, supported by the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Every year, it elicits tremendous enthusiasm from our participants, coming from all over India. Today, it’s India's only annual congress of children's content creators, reaching out to hundreds of professionals-designers, artists, educators, publishers, booksellers and storytellers. We want to bring together experts from the publishing, media, education, digital and creative industries to create dialogue and explore the different facets of narrative creation through the intersections of storytelling, imagination, technology and reality that will translate into better content for children. We wish to explore the vibrant links between traditional storytelling practices, digital initiatives, visual arts and pedagogy.
About the author, Julia Regul Singh:
Julia is the author of Boris the Bench (Urban Crayon Press, 2010), a children’s book. Julia’s first fiction novel for adults is Leap of Faith (Rupa Publications, 2015). Julia is currently working on publishing her second children’s story, My Cousin Max, which combines her passion for writing for young readers and promoting cross-cultural understanding and acceptance. Before turning her hand to writing, Julia worked as an Urban Planner and Urban Designer in Germany and the US. She holds a bachelor degree of geography from the University of Bayreuth (Germany) and a master degree in urban planning and urban design from the Technical University Hamburg-Harburg (Germany) and attended Columbia University in New York City as part of her masters. Julia currently resides in New Delhi with her husband and their three children, trying to raise them Punjabi style and improve her Hindi.
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