Priya Kuriyan – Indian Author

For the past 15 years, Priya Kuriyan is an author that has been illustrating for children’s literature. At the Vizag Junior Lit Fest, she held a workshop for children to learn more about her illustrations (Upadhye 2018). I think that authors like Priya are a driving force behind accelerating children to indulge in reading. She believes that a lot more can be done to enhance children’ts literature, and she even made the following comment, “New designs and more experimentation is required in the layout. Elements like pop-ups make the books more interesting and eye-catching for the children (Upadhye 2018).” When you have authors that are willing to take their innovate ideas to the next level, it helps to entice other writers to increase their presence and improve their work. This will all just help to make children’s literature even more relevant with the modern technological advances to help hand held books to not go extinct. Another thing that stands out about Priya is that she wants to make her books inclusive to help readers not see false images that create an unrealistic mindset (Upadhye 2018). I think that this is a very important part of writing for children. Children are developing and learning every day. If a book gives them false notions of what to expect from their culture, themselves, and the people around them, it can cause them to be confused. More authors need to make their writing inclusive just as Priya attempts to do. If children’s literature is more encompassing of all individuals, there will be more stories for different people to relate to.

One of Priya’s most well known books is titled Ammachi’s Glasses. Priya wrote this story based off of her own experiences with her grandma (Chaudhuri 2017). What stood out to me about the the story, was how it accurately portrays the culture and lifestyle of people that live in Kochi, India. When talking about the book, Priya says, “‘These are the things I grew up seeing around the house. I feel like it’s very relaxing to go through a book, where you are seeing little details everywhere that make it more relatable (Chaudhuri 2017).’” I think that this is an important part of children’s literature. The accurate portrayal of the lifestyle and culture of characters helps to make the story more relatable for the children reading it. I think that this also relates back to Priya not wanting to create unrealistic notions for children. She makes sure that her stories provide children with thought provoking and interesting plots while still being accurate and factual. The book also portrays the look of characters properly by having them “both wear the traditional chatta and mundu (a white top with a wrap-like cloth for the waist) every day (Chaudhuri 2017).” By creating stories with all illustrations, Priya hopes to have it attract all eyes by having no language or age barriers (Chaudhuri 2017). I think that there needs to be more authors like Priya. She is always looking to be innovative and trying to universally connect children’s literature. 

Sources:

Chaudhuri, Zinnia Ray. “Priya Kuriyan’s New Book Tells the Story of an Adorable, Eccentric Grandmother – without Any Words.” Scroll.in, 12 Aug. 2017, scroll.in/magazine/845009/priya-kuriyans-new-book-tells-the-story-of-an-adorable-eccentric-grandmother-without-any-words.

Upadhye, Aishwarya. “Vizag Junior Lit Fest: Priya Kuriyan Talks about Her Illustrations.” The Hindu, The Hindu, 23 Nov. 2018, www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/vizag-junior-lit-fest-priya-kuriyan-talks-about-her-illustrations/article25576927.ece.