Image Cc children in Malpura Rajasthan reading children book The Princess and the Crow Image of my meeting with Austin Macauley representative at the London Book Fair 2025Meeting with children book publishers at London Book Fair 2025 . Image copyright Image cc. My passion for books at LBF 2025.
My passion for books and for writing once again drove my steps to the London Book Fair at Olympia in London last month.
I was flabbergasted to see the innumerable children books exposed. I met several publishers including the Austin Macauley team and I was curious to know about the future of writers of children books.
I was over the moon to learn from a big children book publisher that ‘ for Austin Macauley to publish your story means that your story is a very good one!’ He wished to remain anonymous because he is a publisher too.
With my book ‘The Princess and the Crow’ I was proud to walk around visiting the book stalls as an author of Austin Macauley.
My Rajasthan friends bought their copy of The Princess and the Crow from Amazon India. I am sharing a photo of village children in Malpura reading a paperback copy.
I am invited by Austin Macauley to submit a new manuscript. It dawned upon me to write unique stories about my childhood.
Why unique? Because each one of us has a unique childhood.
I’m working on a new book for children except that it will take some time to write because of my eyes problems.
LEAVES, A Collection of Haiku, Senryu and Tanka Poems was released in July 2024. It immediately gained a lot of popularity in Kindle Amazon and readers started to purchase the paperback, the kindle and to read for free. I was happy. Readers believe in me and in my work.
At the same time, I was sad. Amazon is not available in my birth country, Mauritius. The only thing I could do was to bring LEAVES to my faithful audience in Mauritius. I did.
Organized in a jiffy, the main hall of Mauritius Gymkhana Club was booked for Wednesday 04 2024. The books were expected to arrive from U.S.A by special delivery on Tuesday 03. Invitations were sent.
The Big Day arrived in a flash.
The hall was packed with keen, enthusiastic guests and my followers on social media.
Welcome address by Mr. Yogen Bacha, Master of Ceremony and laudable words about me, the author and, about LEAVES, my book were a terrific start for the evening. Quote-
‘Leaves’ is a poetic exploration of Nature, seasons and the human experience, blending haiku, senryu and tanka to create a vibrant tapestry of emotion and imagery. This collection is a tribute to the beauty of life’s fleeting moments and a testament to Mrs. Bacha’s mastery of poetic expression.
My colleague at The Bar, Mridula , Govind Nagi, Mr. Mauritius 2024 and others read poems from LEAVES. Applause filled my ears.
Last I picked up the mic to address the audience.
It was a rather long speech interlaced by recital of tanka poems by me.
I have chosen a few excerpts from my speech that may interest you, my dear friends-
‘I started the project of writing a second collection of short poems after the resounding success of my debut anthology of haiku, ‘PINK MOON’. However, the journey was filled with moments of doubts, tiredness, sleepless nights and health problems.’
‘LEAVES is a collection of haiku, senryu and tanka poems that I wrote during the past two years. It is more than just an anthology of short poems of Japanese style in English to me. It’s an expression of thanks to Mother Nature. Leaves come and go similar to the cycle of life and death.’
‘It’s a reflection of the human spirit, our capacity for resilience and, the power of hope in the darkest times.’
‘My readers, both longtime fans and those just discovering my work, this book is for you. Your views, likes, messages and support on the social media, WordPress, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have fueled my passion to write. I hope LEAVES resonates with you and perhaps offers you a new perspective of life challenges just as I have left a piece of myself in every word.
I am signing off with these words ‘This is my last book’.
Anita Bacha
Master of Ceremony, Mr. Yogen Bacha ,F.C.ALaunch of the book Recitals of Short Poems Book signing for Barrister Mridula Cheereemoony
Par excellence , a major travel destination, Frankfurt entices the biggest books celebration; The content literary oriented will find displayed, Poetry,classics,horror on shelves neatly arranged; My flight on British Airways was booked, A voracious bookworm was hooked; I have to make it to Frankfurt Buchmesse; I hazily jump out of bed, rush … rush, The alarm of my IPhone rings too late, I am in the kitchen sipping hot chocolate, Half asleep in my pyjamas, on the toilet seat, I compose and send an illustrated tweet; Shampoo and body wash under the hot shower, Up the stairs I climb to switch off the timer; So many little but significant things to remember, When leaving home deserted,mid- October; A brand new fire linen, voile, white shirt, A stylish,pleated black cotton skirt; Colorful leg warmers and thermal socks, Ouch! the thermal pants pinch my buttocks; I have radiant, energetic, youthful looks, I am totally and absolutely obsessed with books; Trendy in knee high, leather boots, Matching jacket and a satchel of books; I drive with zeal to Heathrow Terminal 5, My mind set on catching the early morning flight.
Anita Bacha
Frankfurter Buchmesse 2024 is branding a powerful motto- FBF 2024. Is Reading. Read, Reflect,Relate I am at FBF 2024 to discover new books and to meet publishers. It’s my second visit. A few years ago, my book, Soul Poetry published by Partridge was exhibited by Combined Books Exhibit at FBF. For more catchy poems to read, reflect and relate, please check out
I am glad to announce that I have just added a new release to my repertoire –
LEAVES
It’s a collection of short poems,namely haiku,senryu and tanka written fondly with you in mind.
I picked up my quill after a long illness to compile this collection of haiku, senryu and tanka poems which, has been a major part of my recovery.Writing every day, no thrice a day, is my secret potion. On a naughty note, I wanted to prove to my ophthalmologist that writing won’t make me blind.
What is Leaves about?
Choosing a title for a poetry book is not an easy task especially when it comes to a collection of short poems.
One morning, I was gazing at the overcast sky when a yellow leaf fell at my feet, followed by another, yet another. Deeply marveled and inspired by Mother Nature’s cycle of life, I have named my new collection of short poems, LEAVES. Each poem molded, shaped, colored differently is a leaf from Mother Nature’s Notebook.
This collection of traditional and modern haiku, senryu and tanka is divided in three parts. The first one consists of haiku unfolding the four seasons of the year, starting with summer and ending with winter. The second comprises senryu and, the third and last one includes tanka.
Haiku is a Japanese poem of traditionally seventeen syllables in three, short, unrhymed lines. Nature themes and imagery evoking a specific season of the year are the traditional focus of haiku poetry.
Haiku developed from the hokku, the opening lines of a longer poem known as tanka, an ancient form of poetry that consists of 5 lines in a 5/7/5/7/7 syllables count form. The tanka poem is traditionally about seasons, nature and emotions. Senryu is another short form Japanese poetry similar to haiku in construction with three lines and seventeen syllables count. Senryu, however, tend to be about human foibles; they are often cynical and darkly humorous. Haiku is more serious.
Whereas traditional haiku and senryu poets observe strictly the 5/7/5 syllables pattern, modern poets try different syllables count and formats to achieve a more minimalist style.
Writing is one of the miraculous achievements of the world.’ Irving Finkel
In conversation with Pragya Tiwari at Diagoe Durbar Theatre in the British Library organized by Zee Literary Festival,2019 –
From carved stones to modern, beautiful calligraphy.
On the same occasion, I met Irving Finkel in person, he autographed his world famous book, The Lifeboat that saved the World, for my children and shared these magic and inspiring words with me-
The best thing that you can do is to write books for children.
Thanks for reading,my friends.
Happy Sunday
Anita Bacha
Autograph of Author Irving Finkel at the British Library.
My debut children’s book, The Princess and the Crow, is set in the magnetic backdrop of a tropical island in the midst of a blue lagoon. A beautiful Princess lives on the island with her friends, the flowers and the birds. One day, a crow falls from the sky and lands on her lap. As the story unfolds, the real identity of the crow is revealed. Bursting with charm and magic, the book is illustrated and published by Austin Macauley Publishers London. Categorized as fiction, it’s my first successful effort to creative writing and to putting on script my hidden talent of storytelling.
Wakashio is my second story book for kids. Categorized as fiction, the story is based on the real wreck of a Japanese oil tanker, MV Wakashio, on the coral reefs of Mauritius. The tale is narrated by two Mauritian siblings, Angela and Oshin. With 15 amazing and colorful illustrations.
SURPRISE!! My third story book is a novel sequence. Another adventure of our favorite characters Angela and Oshin, illustrated with 15 fascinating images for the joy of our young audience. It is under print and will be released shortly.
Hold the hand of the child that lives in your soul
For this child nothing is impossible
Paulo Coelho
Author of The Alchemist
As a child I was fond of reading books.My papa offered me my first illustrated children’s book in French ‘Toto et Titi’ when I was three. I delved in the pages of my treasured book and I had a dream. I dreamt of my name on the front cover of the book.
I cherished the dream for a long time. Writing a book for children sounded like impossible… a poetry book for adults crossed my mind often. Yet I hold on to the dream of writing a book for all the children in the world.
This dream became true when many many years after, I wrote and published my debut children’s book, The Princess and the Crow.
Many of you may have read that book and many of you are aspiring authors.
Hold the hand of the child that lives in your soul and make the impossible become possible NOW.
MV WAKASHIO , a Japanese- owned bulk carrier ran aground on the coral reefs, off the coast of the tropical island Mauritius, on 25 July 2020.
Wakashio was empty of cargo but had an estimated 200 tons of diesel and 3,800 tons of heavy fuel oil on board.
Little by little, with the strength of the heavy waves, cracks arose in its hull. Fuel oil started to spill on the turquoise blue sea of the coastal district, Mahebourg. In no time, the oil spill reached its shores, destroying marine life, seaweeds, and corals.
The inhabitants ran to the rescue of the lagoon. They made floating booms with sugar cane straw to absorb the oil. In the meantime, foreign help was sought by the Government of Mauritius to block the catastrophic flood of oil from the hull of Wakashio to the sea.
On Assumption Day 2020, Wakashio broke into two. The authorities estimated that it would take decades to tow the two fragmented parts of the ship. Finally, the bow part of Wakashio was sunk in the deep ocean, far from Mauritius. It was also decided that the stern part of the ship that was stuck in the reefs would take decades to tow back. It remained as the remnant of a shipwreck in the lagoon, in the southeast of the green island.
MV WAKASHIO
The story here is told from the perspective of two Mauritian children, Angela and Oshin.
WAKASHIO the children’s book
INSPIRATION TO WRITE THE STORYBOOK.
Earlier this year, I started a campaign to urge young Mauritian children to read books.
By coincidence, MV WAKASHIO met with a terrible accident at sea and it became the talk of the town in Mauritius and in the whole world. Social media wrote about the shipwreck and posted pictures of the sinking ship.
It dawned upon me to write the story of the Wakashio for children. I felt deep inside that it was a subject that will draw the attention of children, they will pick up the book and they will start to read.
Reading books and listening to stories stimulates the imagination of children.
As Albert Einstein has wisely said-
Imagination is more important than knowledge,
For knowledge is limited,
Whereas imagination embraces the whole world,
Stimulates progress, giving birth to evolution.
I strongly believe that children of all ages should read books and good books. In this age of electronic books, it is much better for parents to encourage a child to read traditional paper books, that he can carry and read every he goes – under a tree in the garden, on the lap of his mom… even where there is no electricity or an internet connection.
Reading books starts at home. First by a mother or a grandmother reading to a child, then by an elder brother or sister reading to a child and finally by a child reading a book by himself.
Salman Rushdie, the world acclaimed bestseller author says –
When a child is born, there are two things that he requires – LOVE AND SAFETY;
The next thing the child says is –
TELL ME A STORY.
Undoubtedly stories are an important part of our adult life; without them life is boring. Most of all, children love stories as dearly as they love toys and games.
My mother was an excellent storyteller. I vividly remember the story of Cinderella and Prince Charming as concocted and told by her when I was a kid. I bemused at her facial expressions and her body movements. I traveled to fairyland, wonderland, to faraway places; I fought with dragons; I talked to birds, rats, rabbits, and other animals.
Mostly, I started to daydream of Prince Charming. Often I took a broom, bigger than myself and arduously swept the kitchen. All the time, I kept an eye on the big pumpkin that mom kept in a corner of the kitchen, wishing that it would explode and Prince Charming would jump out.
From listening to stories, and putting myself in the shoes of Cinderella, I very rapidly developed a fondness for books. From reading books, I gradually started to write stories.
WAKASHIO is my new storybook for children and my first book in French. Mauritian children are more familiar with the French language, oral and written; I have written this book primarily for them.
It is legitimate for writers to remember that children are the adults of tomorrow. They should be made aware of the important happenings of their country and the consequences of their acts from an early age. Wakashio is a tale that relates the story of the wreck of MV Wakashio in pure and simple prose, illustrated by amazing color pictures.
A mother will take you under her wings, even when you know how to fly – my quote.
I don’t know how true it is for you. For me, I always come to the help of my grown up children even when they refuse my help. A child remains a child for a mom even when he is an old man and a great granddad. I refer to child as a male because I have only boys and four of them.
I remember telling them stories, mostly imaginative, when they were very small. Later and now, I tell stories to my grandchildren.
Even later and as far back as last year, I wrote my first story book for children, The Princess and the Crow.
A few months ago, I conceived the idea of a new, illustrated book for children. I am expecting to deliver the book any time now.
A book is like a child to me. I have in all ten children, four biological children and six books. Awaiting the birth of a book gives me the same anxiety problems, coupled with short breath, cold sweat, loss of appetite and loose bowels.
Most of all, I am on top of the world as a creative writer and a mother.
Writers write because there have something deep inside their guts that they need to bring out.
My advice to writers is to write and write until you bring out what is inside you.
Anita Bacha 