Creative writing contest hosted by Government of Maharashtra and Wattpad India inspires students across the region

 

Nine winners were announced today for exemplary writing submissions in English, Hindi and Marathi 

The Government of Maharashtra and Wattpad India, a leading social storytelling platform, announced today the winners of the creative writing contest after a three week call for submissions for stories in English, Hindi or Marathi.

The contest, which aimed to engage students virtually as schools remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, drew more than 1500 entries by aspiring student authors across the state in English, Hindi and Marathi. The entries came from both metros and non-metros such as Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Diveagar, Dhamodi and more, showcasing the power and ingenuity of young minds across the region.

Students were invited to write stories about one of the following topics: 

●     "Story of COVID-19 Heroes that you have seen around you"

●     “What do you think of the year 2020 and how can 2021 be better?"

●     "What is your vision of India for the year 2030?”

Commenting on the success of the contest, Mr. Rahul Dwivedi, State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha and Former Director of State Council of Educational Research and Training, (SCERT) Maharashtra, Pune from Government of Maharashtra said, “The response to the creative writing contest has been phenomenal. Students from every nook and corner of Maharashtra welcomed the contest as a great outlet for them to share their point of view. The entries were a myriad of diversity and originality. This showed how students in Maharashtra are bright young minds who have adapted to the virtual learning environment and took on the contest to engage with  other school going students virtually by sharing their voice and their ideas.”

Devashish Sharma, Head of Wattpad India, said, “Wattpad’s first partnership with the Government of Maharashtra was a resounding success. As evidenced by our community of more than 90 million people around the world, it is in times of great adversity that storytelling is more important than ever. We thank all the participants and look forward to working with the Government of Maharashtra in the future.”

The winning entries will be published across the Times of India Network.

About Wattpad:

Wattpad’s vision is to entertain and connect the world through stories. Wattpad’s flagship app is a leading social storytelling platform, home to a community of more than 90 million people who spend over 23 billion minutes a month engaged in original stories. Wattpad’s Story DNA Machine Learning technology allows the company to discover stand-out stories among more than one billion uploads written on the platform. Wattpad Studios and Wattpad Books are transforming entertainment and publishing, using data-backed insights to turn Wattpad stories into books, films and TV shows. Wattpad Brand Partnerships help brands build deep engagement with Gen Z consumers. The company is proudly based in Toronto, Canada. Learn more at company.wattpad.com.