Amanda Sodhi’s ‘Pen Paper Dreams’ nurtures budding writers

The start-up has already hosted three different sessions for the writing enthusiasts and budding writers in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Creative writing undoubtedly is a great emotional outlet. And several Hyderabadis got a dose of therapeutic writing with the help of singer-songwriter-poet-screenwriter-filmmaker Amanda Sodhi, who organised creative writing sessions in various parts of the city.

Amanda’s start-up Pen Paper Dreams, already hosted three different sessions for the writing enthusiasts and budding writers in Hyderabad.

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“I did a gratitude journaling workshop at Lotus Pond Park and historical fiction workshop at Qutb Shahi Tombs with Hyderabad Trails,” Amanda shares, adding, “The response was lovely. Pen Paper Dreams also conducted a creative writing workshop at Autumn Leaf Cafe, too.”

Hyderabad is a wonderful city, very chilled out and has lots of fabulous cafes, she says adding, “People have been really kind to me. I will definitely do more sessions in the city.”

Born and brought up in United States of America, following her passion for writing was not easy for the young entrepreneur. She shares, “I was born and brought up in DC. Growing up in an extremely orthodox environment where even something as basic as hanging out with friends was not allowed. I think creative writing was my release. Music and film offered me an escape, a means of survival. That’s probably why I was drawn to this path as a profession.”

Born out of Amanda’s love for writing, Pen Paper Dreams was formed about three-and-a-half years ago, and hosts several creative writing and poetry workshops. The company is working towards cultivating inclusive virtual safe spaces which are essentially creative communities that kept people from all over the country connected during the lockdown, via virtual reading sessions, creative writing workshops, gratitude journaling and workshops aimed at addressing writer’s blocks.

Even during the lockdown, Amanda kept organising several sessions. “During the pandemic, Pen Paper Dreams started conducting online sessions – this really widened our reach across India and enabled us to introduce more topics like gratitude journaling. We launched an interactive reading group, too, which is entering the tenth edition in February. During October, I conducted offline sessions in Srinagar,” she says.

Presently, Amanda is writing a book about her discovering what home and belonging means. “I am living out of a suitcase, and plan to visit 12 cities in 12 months. I will also release a new single at the end of the year in line with this theme, hopefully with footage from each city. 2021 is all about possibilities and self-discovery,” she concludes.

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