AHA Freshman Has Nonfiction Piece Published in ‘Scrawl’

Discovering silverfish in the shower may not be pleasant, but Academy of the Holy Angels freshman Natasha Dhanrajani managed to turn the encounter on its ear by seeing the scene as a piece of live art. The result was “Silverfish,” an evocative nonfiction piece that now appears in “Scrawl: Rockland Teens Write 2019.”

Published through the Library Association of Rockland County, New York, “Scrawl” includes fiction and nonfiction by Rockland County writers in grades 6 through 12.

“I wrote this piece as a way for me to see this memory as a happy one rather than an unpleasant one,” the Bardonia, New York, resident explained. “I decided to try and get it published to show the world that something as simple as taking a shower is an art.

“My piece was selected after review by a panel of authors (who were also the editors): Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, J.G. Faherty, Carolyn MacCullough, and Dan Waters. There were hundreds of submissions this year, and it was the toughest year to get published by far! There were many great pieces, but only around 100 were published.”

This is the third time Dhanrajani’s work has been accepted for publication. Her pieces previously appeared in the 2017 and 2018 editions of “Scrawl.”

“I became interested in writing when I was in seventh grade,” she added. “I had a diary and I always liked to make my memories have vivid images and sound almost ‘creative and dreamy.’ I also really love to watch movies, and I was so fascinated by the beautiful stories that can be brought to life by people, rather than just a page.”

This creative writer has dabbled in several different genres, including fiction, science fiction, and screenwriting.

  Academy of the Holy Angels, Natasha Dhanrajani, Scrawl