Art Central
Literary Fiction
An imaginary town that feels real, a famous story that began on a boat trip and a teenager who wrote a prize-winning novel: welcome to the world of fiction!
Did you know?
R.K. Narayan created Malgudi, an imaginary small town in South India. Its streets and people feel so real that you may wish you could visit! His first novel, 'Swami and Friends' (1935), is set there.
Ruskin Bond started writing his first novel, 'The Room on the Roof', when he was just 17 years old. It won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957.
'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' began as a story Lewis Carroll made up in 1862 during a boat trip, to entertain three young sisters. One of them was named Alice.
Try this: Genre Switch
Take a story you know well, like 'The Thirsty Crow'. Retell it in five sentences as a different genre: a fantasy (the crow has magic powers), historical fiction (set in an old palace garden) or realistic fiction (set in your school during a hot summer). How does changing the genre change the whole story?
Go further: Stories in Pictures
A graphic novel is a book-length story told like a comic, with pictures and words in panels. In India, Anant Pai, lovingly called 'Uncle Pai', started Amar Chitra Katha in 1967 to tell stories from Indian history and legends in comic form. Graphic novels can belong to any genre: fantasy, history, adventure or real life. Try drawing a six-panel comic of your favourite story!