Max Life Insurance hunts for young authors

The campaign aims to promote writing talent of young Indians and will culminate in a book of stories.

Max Life Insurance has closed the first round of its igenius Young Authors' Hunt 2013. According to the company, more than 50,000 children registered for Young Author's Hunt, of which 5,000 children submitted stories with complete details and registration formalities. The first 1000 write-ups submitted at igenius.org got an autographed book by Ruskin Bond.

Out of the 50,000 children, who participated, 67 per cent of the participants were between 11 and 14 years and hailed from more than 300 cities across India. The maximum number of participants was from Maharashtra and Delhi, with Uttar Pradesh being a close third. Fiction categories were mainly on ghosts, aliens and many stories based at international locations.

The igenius Young Authors' Hunt aims to promote the writing talent of young Indians and will culminate in a book of stories. Eminent authors, Ruskin Bond and Chetan Bhagat, form a part of the expert jury members, while the editorial support is provided by Rupa Publications India.

Commenting about this initiative, Anisha Motwani, director and chief marketing officer, Max Life Insurance, says, "These stories are a window into the fantastic world of children - from the story of a stone to murder mysteries, their imagination and innovation is amazing. More than the competitive spirit that these children have shown by sending in entries so enthusiastically, I'm glad that this generation is dedicating their time to reading and writing. I am extremely happy that we could bring out this dormant talent in these children through Young Author's Hunt."

Young Authors' Hunt aims to nurture the budding young authors of the country. The igenius Young Authors' Hunt is open for all children in the age group of 8-15 years, studying in government recognised schools including private, public or national open schools all over India.

The Hunt will go through a three-round selection process. Shortlisted participants from Round One will appear for on-the-spot creative writing in Round Two in Reliance Web World. The Final Round will have shortlisted participants from Round Two, who will interact with the jury through video conference to be held in September, 2013.

Ruskin Bond states, "It was a fantastic experience going through the entries sent by children for the Young Authors' Hunt.' The simplicity and innocence found in these stories is something we don't get to read these days. Their intelligence and awareness about matters at even such a young age is incredible and reinforces the importance of imagination and reading at this age."

The participants are divided into two categories that include Juniors (age 8-12 years) and Seniors (age 12-15 years). The grand first prize will be conferred on 40 winners whose creative writing submissions will be published in a book by Rupa Publications India and the winners will win a Kindle e-book reader each.

The second prize will be awarded to 60 winners whose creative writing submissions will be published in a children's publication or an igenius e-book and they will get a Young Authors' Scholarship of worth Rs 5000 each. Consolation prize will be handed to 400 winners who will also receive a children's book hamper each.

In 2012, Max New York Life Insurance was rechristened Max Life Insurance. The development followed a stake transfer whereby US-based New York Life sold its stake in Max New York Life Insurance to Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (MSI) of Japan.