Ms Anusri Venkatesh
StoryTent and Elan & nVision of IIT Hyderabad organised their Online Literature Festival themed âAntimatter' yesterday that saw participation from eminent personalities and brought together authors and poets across the country. The Literature Festival was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Prof Milind Sudhakar Marathe, Chairman of National Book Trust (NBT). His words resonated deeply, encouraging both budding and seasoned writers to embrace the transformative power of literature. This was followed by a panel discussion on âExploring Tradition and Shaping the Future of Literature'. Panelists included Mr Ashish A Wakankar, Dr Dinesh Nair, Dr Tejinder Singh Rawal, Ms Shilpi Signodia and Mr Abhishek Talwar which was moderated by Ms Bhawana Mishra.
Hosted by RJ Tejal, the Festival explored various facets of literature including mix media in the form of a âJugalbandhi' where Poetry met Rap which was performed by Mr Bhoumik Patel, Mr Bhuvan Singh, Mr Shubham Rathod and Mr Siddarth Bhagat, followed by an All India Poetry Contest in Hindi / Urdu and English with enthusiastic participants from various parts of the country. Post the Authors spotlight featuring Mr Arun Kumar Singh, were workshops on English poetry by Dr Prantik Banerjee and on Urdu for Ghazal writing by Dr Tejinder Singh Rawal that saw active participation from the delegates. The Literature Festival concluded with music of Mr Shreyansh Mohan Verma and Mr Nishant Tiwari of the The Leading Drops that also brought out the facet of lyrics conceptualisation and its delivery.
Ms Mridul Sharma, Head Elan &nVision of IIT Hyderabad mentions âWe are proud to have collaborated with StoryTent for the Online Literature Festival titled Antimatter. The Festival was a huge success and we look forward to more such collaborations with StoryTent in the future'
Talking about the festival, Ms Anusri Venkatesh, founder of StoryTent, said âwe are grateful to everyone who participated in the event'. Making a special mention of the organising committee for the Online Literature Festival that comprised of herself, Dr Dinesh Nair, Mr Vikas Kumawat, Mr Balaji Venkatesh and Mr Swapnil Jambhale, she said âit was meticulous planning and effective execution as a team that led to the success of such a large day long festival'
Ms Anusri Venkatesh has been the recipient of the Times 40 Under 40 Award (2023) as Emerging Entrepreneur in Creative Arts and has been featured as a Newsmaker in Economic Times. Ms Anusri's artistic journey encompasses contemporary oil and acrylic painting on canvas, digital artistry, poetry, fashion design among others. Her artistry is a captivating blend of tradition and innovation, earning her both critical acclaim and an adoring audience. Her art has been proudly displayed at the esteemed Kala Ghoda art precinct in Mumbai. Her multi faceted talents extend beyond personal artistic pursuits and achievements propelling her into the realms of entrepreneurship and community building.
Ms Anusri is equally accomplished as a poet and visual designer and her various artistic talent has resulted in winning accolades and awards. Her vision to create a platform both in digital realm and the physical world that are designed to unite a diverse community of authors, poets, readers, narrators, motion storytellers. empowering other creative minds led to StoryTent.
Today, StoryTent is a beacon for budding authors and poets across India. With its portal and app, besides collaborative platforms in over 25 cities across 16 states in the country, StoryTent bridges gaps in the literary landscape for creators and have become vibrant hubs for creative expression.
Ms Anusri states âThere are so many wonderful budding authors and poets in our country and all that they need is a platform to showcase their talent that will enable them to grow beyond their local geographies on one hand and showcase their creations to the world'
Running five word story initiatives. conducting a series of online open mics, written online poetry contest, collaborative writing engagements including featuring of authors and poets and showcasing their stories and poems on the portal and app etc have been well received by the wordsmith community and have aimed to nurture talent and amplify voices to go beyond local geographies and revolutionise the artistic and literary landscape.
StoryTent has been the Official Literature Partner for BITS Pilani (Oasis 2023), Delhi Technology University (E Summit 2024), Official Creative Platform for BITS Pilani (Oasis 2024) besides being the Partner in Creative Expression for inter collegiate.
Talking about her strategy, Ms Anusri states âWe are now working on adding features to our online platform that would enable StoryTent to meet the social media requirements of the wordsmith community. Our imminent foray into regional languages aims to bring out various regional literature treasure that the world needs to know. The youth of today wants to follow their creative passion and to me, there are a lot of opportunities for commercial needs to be met out of this passion pursuit'
Giving her closing remarks, Ms Anusri mentions âStoryTent is on a mission to create a parallel universe where creative contributions are celebrated and cherished, cultivating a sense of literary ecstasy that transcends boundaries'
