Mannat Gupta

Hiiii! My name is Mannat Gupta (lovingly called Moon), and I’m a student at Bal Bharati Public School, Pitampura.

Growing up, my family loved to tease me, jokingly saying, “Kitni kahaniyaan bunti hai.” (You spin too many tales). Even before that, the true seed of literature was planted when my mother began reading to me at the age of two. Books became a constant—Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, and Ruskin Bond lining my childhood shelves. Then came Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan, and The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. Today, my reading ranges from psychological thrillers to classic literature and fantasy. Some books I hold especially close are The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black.

I began writing simply because I was bored during the summer of 2015. I was seven when I wrote my first short story. But the true shift came in eighth grade, when I wrote my first poem and realised—oh—I was, after all, an incurable romantic at heart. Poetry brought with it a strange responsibility and an even stranger love. It felt like unwrapping myself, letting my insides spill and bleed until they became one with the pen, the words, the paper; something I take pride in.

I have two books to my name: Parts of Her (2023) and Crybaby (2025). Parts of Her was recognised by The Times of India and written in collaboration with the Writeathon by BookLeaf Publishing. It was an experience that later led to my invitation as a judge for IWP Season Eight. Crybaby earned me my first literary award—the 21st Century Emily Dickinson Award.

The shining glass trophy taught me that the joy of writing was never meant to be kept to myself. At Global Inkwell, we hope to grow with you, support you, and learn with you, together. So, what story will you paint?