Abstract
Introduction
The most significant publication in 2013 was for once not a work of fiction, poetry or drama. Simply titled Wave, Sonali Deraniyagala’s memoir captures the events surrounding the Boxing Day Tsunami in Sri Lanka which robbed the author of her parents, husband and two children. Deraniyagala herself was found in a bloodied mess and unable to stand properly because the force of the waves had so affected her mind and body that she kept on spinning as if she were still under their power. Carol Leon, an academic and critic from the University of Malaya, assesses the book thus: This tale of survival is important because it is one story out of hundreds of thousands of stories, most untold, of what it was like to be caught in a disaster of this scale. The author captures for us, in harrowing prose, her sensations and feelings of being trashed about in the waves. Wave is a narrative about grief and utter despair and how a person could live through these overwhelming, crippling emotions. William Dalrymple describes Wave as “possibly the most moving book I have ever read about grief.” Indeed grief is not an easy emotion to read about. Some of the unfavourable comments about the book revolve around how it is too painful to read and that one found it hard to relate to the events. There are those who even complain that she is too absorbed with herself to relate to others. It is true, Wave is a tough book and I found I had to put it down at intervals and distance myself from the painful emotions expressed. But there is also that strong compulsion to get back to the book, almost a moral duty not to turn away from the horror that hit us on that fateful day. The impulse may be to cast away one’s eyes from such detailing of sorrow. It is easier to look away from pain, but it is unacceptable. We have to bear witness. We, the readers, are also caught in the need to find out if Sonali can emerge from this horrendous experience. The grief depicted in the narrative is unimaginable, unrelenting. Deraniyagala writes: “I am in the unthinkable situation that people cannot bear to contemplate. . . A friend will say, I told someone about you, and she couldn’t imagine how you must be, and I cringe to be bereft in a way that cannot be imagined, even though I do wonder how impossible this really is.” (p103). A profound sense of loss underpins the whole text. Essentially the writer loses her whole family in minutes and, with that, she loses all of herself. The wave has ripped away the roles of daughter, wife and mother from her. How does one find self after this? The writer tells us: “…I should be raving around” (p71), “I might feel more like their mother if I was constantly weeping and screaming and tearing my hair out and clawing the earth, I think sometimes” (p115). For Sonali, there is a desperate need to articulate this loss and its powerful, attendant emotions. Wave details the varying shades and textures of grief, ranging from denial and the need to build illusions to feelings of shame and hopelessness, the compulsion to kill oneself and the necessity to remember and to reclaim.
Sri Lankans and Sri Lankan expatriates once again did well in international literary awards in the year under review. Michelle de Kretser’s Questions of Travel won the coveted Miles Franklin Literary Award (the second time the author has been awarded this prize) and the Prime Minister’s Award for Fiction. She subsequently won further awards (to be reported in JCL’s next bibliographic issue). In announcing the winner, Richard Neville, spokesperson for the 2013 Miles Franklin Literary award judges and Librarian of the State Library of NSW said, Michelle de Kretser’s wonderful novel, Questions of Travel, centres on two characters, with two stories, each describing a different journey. The stories intertwine and pull against one another, and within this double narrative, de Kretser explores questions of home and away, travel and tourism, refugees and migrants, as well as ‘questions of travel’ in the virtual world, charting the rapid changes in electronic communication that mark our lives today. She brings these large questions close-up and personal with her witty and poignant observations and her vivid language. Her novel is about keeping balance in a speeding, spinning world.
Nayomi Munaweera’s Island of a Thousand Mirrors which was longlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize was shortlisted for the DSC Prize as well. It also won the final Commonwealth Book Prize for 2013. Michael Mendis won the regional award (Asia) for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize which supplanted the Book Prize. His winning entry was entitled “The Sarong Man in the Old House.”
The successes of Munaweera and Mendis should not take away that fact that the prizes offered by the Commonwealth Foundation have lost their sheen. From 1987 to 2011, the truly international Commonwealth Writers Prize was judged across four regions and entries were submitted by an illustrious list of writers such as Rushdie and Naipaul while those like Helon Habila and Sarah Hall became known after their success in the best first book award category. In 2011, this was reduced to a Book Prize for first-time authors and a short story prize. Subsequently, the book prize was discontinued altogether and only the short story prize remains. These reductive measures have also affected scholarship vis-a-vis Commonwealth/postcolonial literature. In 2013, the Commonwealth Foundation (which had supported the Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies almost from the time of the famous 1964 Leeds conference that founded ACLALS) was rebranded and one casualty was that activity funding was curtailed. This effectively meant no support in the future for conferences, workshops and readings which were the main activities of ACLALS and its chapters over the years. It was determined that activity funding would now be for projects that are linked to “collaboration” and “participatory governance.” These are laudable objectives indeed but not always practicable for an organization that promotes literature. It is ironic that the richer ACLALS chapters in the former settler colonies and those in the US and Europe would most probably continue to prosper whereas, say, a chapter like SLACLALS, will face extinction or have to depend on handouts from richer chapters to survive.
The repercussions of these decisions taken by the Foundation were already felt at the 16th ACLALS conference “‘The current unbroken/ the circuits kept open’: Connecting Cultures and the Commonwealth” held in St. Lucia. The title of the conference based on a poem by Edward Baugh is arresting indeed but the expenses involved and the problems in obtaining visas meant that “connecting cultures and the Commonwealth” was achieved in a very limited manner. To cite one example, chapters in India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka had each held the Chair of ACLALS at one time and organized successful and well represented ACLALS triennials. One recalls the “Islands and Continents” triennial in Colombo which was attended by all chapters despite the war taking place in the North and the security concerns involved. At the St. Lucia conference, however, there was only one Indian, one Malaysian and one Sri Lankan and the only reason they were present was because they were regional chairs or were attending on behalf of theirs chairs. That some expatriates from these and other Commonwealth nations were present it must be said. However, while not gainsaying that the expatriate community has contributed much to scholarship and to “connecting cultures,” the paucity of people from the countries of origin would reduce the “Commonwealth sense of family” that Normal Jeffares was so committed to when he was instrumental in founding ACLALS in 1964. One should add a footnote before ending this section, although it is not related to Sri Lanka. This conference held in the West Indies did not include a single paper on Naipaul. Neither was there a tribute to Chinua Achebe who had died a few months before, a writer who had participated in the pioneering Leeds conference and whose work is at the core of Commonwealth/postcolonial literature.
Knowing that chances of ever holding another conference with Commonwealth Foundation funds were slim, the SLACLALS committee decided to perhaps bow out with an appropriately titled conference entitled “The Postcolonial in Transition” in June, with academics from most universities in Sri Lanka (including Jaffna), three from India, one from Malaysia and two Sri Lankan expatriates living in the US participating. The plenaries given by Qadri Ismail (“Recharging Postcoloniality”), Meena Pillai (“On Marketing the Subaltern: Sales Tags for Postcolonial Margins”) and Suresh Canagarajah (“English Studies as Creole Scholarship”) were well received. Special features introduced at this conference were the performance of a few scenes of the play “Kalumali”, the script of which was shortlisted for the Gratiaen prize, a conversation featuring multiple award winning novelist Shehan Karunatilaka, and readings by Gayathri Hewagama, Samitha Senanayake and Vihanga Perera who were placed first, second and third, respectively, in the SLACLALS Short Story Competition which was funded by the Commonwealth Foundation. The academic papers for the most part dealt with issues such as the challenges faced by Muslims in Sri Lanka, the rhetoric indulged in by local politicians and the fiction of the Diaspora.
Malinda Seneviratne’s persistence in sending up entries for the Gratiaen Prize over the years during which he was shortlisted on innumerable occasions finally paid dividends when he won the award for his collection of poetry Edges. On announcing the winner, the Chair of the judging panel commented: Edges, yet another collection of poems, from Fast Publishers, penned by Malinda Seneviratne. This collection of poetry draws from perennial themes such as love and friendship to historically and geographically specific concerns regarding nationhood or identity. Many of the poems stand out for the way the personal and the political are interwoven as well as for their innovative and metaphor rich language. Intense emotion is recorded convincingly but without falling prey to sentimentality. The sustained manner in which thought and feeling, as well as language and imagery, are given voice reveals the poet’s control over his craft. . . . [T]his year’s winning entry . . . stands out for the quality and depth of the word-worlds it creates. It gives voice to the imagination in a manner that draws the reader into a compelling engagement with the poet’s anxieties and celebrations. Covering a wide canvas, the poems echo the universal even while being rooted in context. Meditative and thought provoking, overall, the collection reflects consummate skill and maturity in terms of craft.
Malinda is only the second writer to win the two prizes offered by the Gratiaen Trust: the Gratiaen Prize and the H.A.I Goonetileke Prize for Translation.
The 21st Gratiaen Prize was unique in that the judges shortlisted only three entries as opposed to the usual five. Furthermore, all the shortlisted entries were collections of poetry, something that had happened only once before and again prompted some members of the literati who favour fiction to question the competence of the judges for that reason alone. The judges’ comments on these submissions are as follows: This Nothingness, a collection of poetry, in manuscript form, by Inosha Ijaz. In Ijaz’s poems ordinary events are invested with an extraordinary significance through the skillful use of a poetic lens. A sophisticated control over language and an eye for the unexpected transform many of the poems into memorable experiences. Her engagement with, and response to, literary forebears is provocatively original. The combination of the creatively audacious, the delicately crafted, and the unpolished and raw, makes for a compelling collection in a distinct voice. A Patchwork Soul is also poetry in manuscript form, by Chamalie Kariyawasam. The appropriation of Hindu mythology to explore a range of experiences relating to love and loss marks this collection. This fusion of myth with an exploration of the intensely personal is rendered through a poetic language that is richly sensual. The play on colour and texture is often striking and intricately woven into the theme and language of the poems. A stress on the aesthetic and the decorative is matched by a convincing rendering of profound emotions and feminist sympathies.
The year’s achievement in poetry, other than the Gratiaen Award, is undoubtedly Jean Arasanayagam’s Lines Drawn on Water. The title itself discloses that the collection has to do with mutability which has been a recurrent theme of the poet in her recent collections. Arasanayagam’s versatility is shown in her experiments with poetic form. “Age”, which the critic Ranjini Obeysekere considers “haiku-like”, is one such experiment in which the poet draws interesting, one could say extraordinary, parallels between the shooting of a bird by hunters and the ageing process with terse, economical use of words. Equally arresting is the poem “Visionary: Segments from a Poet’s Memoir” which “richly reveals the commonplace.” Those who have visited the Arasanayagams in Kandy would immediately recognize the references to the “old leaky house” and the garden with blooming and dying flowers. The poet deftly draws a parallel between the inhabitants of the garden and those of the house: “and in/the garden there is an aviary of tropical and migratory/birds all uncaged like the humans who live in this/ancient abode with open doors and windows unfettered.” What makes the poem memorable is the manner in which “this worn out woman-poet” copes with the challenges of nature and decay that surround her. Other poems in her collection focus on her Dutch ancestry, how the past is interwoven with contemporary Sri Lanka, the 1983 riots which affected her personally and other concerns that are already a significant part of her poetic oeuvre. Lines Drawn on Water is one of Jean Arasanayagam’s best in her illustrious career as a poet.
While the island’s senior poet continues to add to her impressive output, 2013 also saw the publication of Aparna Halpé’s first collection entitled “Precarious Poems.” Born in Sri Lanka and currently domiciled in Canada, Halpé’s 80 page collection, one would hope, is the precursor to several others. The website of the Perera-Hussein publishing house, which brought out her collection, describes her poetry as “[m]inimalist, imagistic and often violent”: Aparna Halpe’s poetry captures the nuance of personal journeys through loss, dislocation and exile, foregrounding the collective history of a nation and a people fractured by the lived experience of racial, cultural and class based conflict Precarious traces the journey from the comforting confines of home, to the chilling, ironic spaces of an adopted city - Toronto. Fittingly, the poems broker an uneasy truce between real and imagined belonging, returning full circle to the point of genesis.
Vihanga Perera claims in his blog that “the strongest section of Precarious is the body titled as ‘Ritumaga’, where the personality of the narrator blends effectively with memory, nostalgia and in memorably graphic evocations. Her poem ‘Varama’ reads as a sensuous return to the familiar scents, sights and sounds of her Sri Lankan home in the calm hills of Riverdale Drive.” However, he questions the book’s cover “with an exotic female body with a camera shy short which (one might argue) adds to the poetic spirit the book is oriented to promote.”
Lakshmi de Silva’s “Reflections” is another first poetry collection of note despite it being a mere 35 pages. An academic and one of the nation’s most seasoned translators, her compilation demonstrates the same finesse and maturity that won her the H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize for Translation some years ago. It is a pity that the collection did not include more poems. Inevitably for a person of her generation, the idyllic environment of the University of Peradeniya during its heyday in the 50s and 60s is evoked with affection and nostalgia in “French Class 1958.” But she never really wallows in sentimentality. In “Peradeniya 1956”, positive images from the past are darkened with later realities: “All that is gone/The sun is heat, not light. No one can step/Into that river again. Another age/Tension, slick words, manipulated rage/Have had their will. There’s blood upon this page.” “Tangalla, 9th April 1971” is even more sombre in tone and evocatively captures how the peace in a sleepy coastal town was shattered during the first JVP insurrection of that year. As D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke suggests in his review, the poet does not feel the need to experiment but is “sturdily traditional” and her poetry is the better for it.
It is surely not a coincidence that, in the year that the nation’s leading poet in English, Jean Arasanayagam, brought out a collection on mutability called Lines Drawn on Water, another writer of her generation, Punyakante Wijenaike (largely know for her fiction), would produce an amalgam of short stories and poems entitled When the Harvest Is Over. Wijenaike’s collection has appeared fifty years after she published her first work of fiction. Many of the reviewers of the book cited in this bibliography, though obviously fond of the writer for what she has achieved, say precious little about the collection per se but focus on her career as a whole. With all the goodwill in the world, one could not say that this is one of Wijenaike’s finest. Rechelle Fonseka is absolutely correct when she claims: “It is only sufficient not satisfying”, and adds that “[h]er stories are trite; there is nothing exceptional or new, her focus narrows itself to the locality in which she has lived all her life.” In fairness, Wijenaike does try to grapple with “modern” issues: a man and a woman, in the UK and Sri Lanka being brought together via a proposal, falling in love on Skype (the only way they will see each other until marriage), but finding the demands of traditional marriages imposed on them by parents too much to deal with (“Mirage”); a woman desperately trying to cope with a mid-life crisis brought about by her husband’s disinclination to make love to her and even contemplating the use of sex toys for self-gratification (“Reconciliation”); and the agony of another woman, perhaps the author, who finds that old age and atrophy prevent her from relating to her great-grandson (“Dedication to My Great-Grandson”). However, though her intentions are clear, the manner in which these intentions are worked out do not lead to any aesthetic delight as this extract from the poem “At What Time” shows: “Watching the river of Life/Flow onwards, ever onwards/To that final moment/The ending of dreams/with the ending of life/We have been destined to meet/From the moment of birth/When we must let life flow/Like a fast moving river/Into the open arms of the sea.” These pieces are written by an author suffering with osteoporosis (as she mentions several times in the text) that has perhaps affected the quality of the work. Laden as it is with self-pity, dark thoughts, pain and loneliness, besides the poorly constructed stories and poems, When the Harvest Is Over should not be regarded as the last testament of one of Sri Lanka’s most accomplished authors in English.
In the sphere of Sri Lankan expatriate writing, Shyam Selvadurai brought out his first work of fiction since Swimming in the Monsoon Sea. Crystal Baines, an Instructor in English at the University of Colombo, assesses it thus: Shyam Selvadurai’s The Hungry Ghosts centers around narrator and protagonist Shivan Rassiah, a young man of Sinhala and Tamil parentage, who, for the most part of the narrative, attempts to come to terms with a personal and political history fraught with violence sanctioned by both the State and his family. Given the thrust of his previous work, this novel too deals somewhat predictably with the dialectics of ethnic and sexual identities against a backdrop of a turbulent Sri Lanka in the late 80s and early 90s. The non-linear narrative shifts between Colombo and Toronto and a major part of it is unravelled sporadically by three generations: Shivan, his mother and his imperious grandmother. The novel thus spans across almost the entire socio-political fabric of 20th century Sri Lanka. The Hungry Ghosts maps the often violent vicissitudes of post-independence Sri Lanka – focusing largely on the civil war and the JVP insurrection – which shape not only the country’s politico-historical trajectory but also the narrative trajectory of the novel’s characters. The text illuminates socio-political and psychological issues which dominated the author’s earlier work. However, what differentiates Hungry Ghosts from the previous, which highlight the all-too-familiar narrative of a Sri Lanka wrought with socio-political turmoil, is the re-evaluation of a familiar narrative through a potent and controlling metaphor: the ‘perethaya.’ Consequently, while Hungry Ghosts – resonant of Funny Boy – reads as a narrativization of terror and its disquieting effect on the individual, it is also accompanied by an underlying allegorical narrative of Buddhist Jathaka Stories (among which the stories of the perethaya stand out) which run parallel to and complement the narrative proper. The introduction of Buddhist philosophy is much more than a narrative embellishment. It both provides an interpretive framework within which the characters are defined and also amplifies the nuances of the various discourses in the text – norm and deviance: both political and sexual – adding a depth and dimension to the text which can be engaging, at several levels.
Mind Adventures Theatre brought out a political critique entitled “Paraya.” Gehan Gunatilleke comments, in a review of the play: The characters in Paraya appeared to exist in an alternative reality. In this reality, the state controls its citizens through the administration of a compliance-inducing drug – Upekka. The ‘equilibrium’ attained through the drug is also enforced by the state through a network of sentinels and informants. The story’s conspiracy unravels as one citizen proclaims publicly that he is immune to the drug and declares his intention to liberate others from the state’s programme. The story clearly draws inspiration from popular literature. Usually, we may be forgiven for failing to draw direct parallels between those literary sources and our own predicament. And yet, Paraya does not offer us that luxury. … The story of Paraya does not end when the lights go out and the apprehensive applause begins. It continues today with our every act of blind compliance. And yet, in a strange way, the story reminds us of the power we potentially wield over oppressive systems – power that such systems genuinely fear. For this reason alone, Paraya must be made accessible to a wider audience and should be performed in other parts of the country. We are all under the influence of the drug, and this production is a small but important antidote.
Blowhards, also by the same company, could be considered “coterie theatre” because it was deliberately shown to a small audience. According to the company website, “Ruvin de Silva plays Anuk, desperate to reclaim his Sri-Lankanness, while Thanuja Jayawardene plays Shehani, impassioned to make every moment of her life a protest. Both are earnest, both are political, both are naive. Blowhards . . . looks at a very particular form of neurosis, that leads ‘little’ decisions to become big statements.”
Stages Theatre Group, which has been producing excellent theatre for the last 16 years, started taking steps in the year 2013 to become a fulltime theatre outfit. Four artistes have made the commitment for this while a wider group of artistes continue to give their support part time. In keeping with this, Stages Theatre Group launched an artiste’s training, exchange and exposure programme. This programme was started in October 2013 and its long-term goal is to develop a system of holistic development and training for today’s Sri Lankan theatre practitioner. The focus of the training is many pronged. They pay attention to the training of the body, the mind, language skills and stagecraft.
In their series of physical training workshops, they experimented with skills drawn from different disciplines such as yoga, mime and wushu with the objective of discovering new dimensions to their understanding of the human body. Inviting academics, activists, social workers and professionals from other fields to talk to the actors on issues that they find pressing and important, Stages also holds lectures for its artistes, feeding their desire to pursue, to understand, to unearth, to share. They have classes to improve their language skills to help them grow into proficient bilingual artistes and, later, trilingual artistes. Throughout 2013, Stages Theatre Group reran its very successful show “Kalumaali – A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups” in both English & Sinhala at the Lionel Wendt with most of the shows being sold out. This script is to be published in both languages (English and Sinhala) as one book. 2013 was also the year Ruwanthie de Chickera was awarded the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship, which gave her the opportunity to travel to the United States and meet with theatre artistes and companies.
DramSoc 2013 was held in May continuing the dramatic traditions of the University of Peradeniya. The following account was largely written by Dayanga Randeniya, the President of Dramsoc, during the year under review. The competition included three performances, one from each of the faculties of Arts, Engineering and Science, while a guest performance from the Department of Fine Arts took to the stage towards the end. “The Serpent” by the Faculty of Engineering was an original play and based on a historical occurrence – the plot to assassinate the prime minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. The play focused on the assassin and a Buddhist monk’s alleged liaison with a female cabinet minister and his love of imported alcohol, while also drawing parallels between the political situation in the 1950s and the present. Most importantly, the play emphasizes the way that ideologies can be used to manipulate the ignorant and how love can be redemptive despite also leading to sad sacrifices. The play won awards for Best Actor (Gihan Edirisinghe), Best Supporting Actress (Thilini Jayatissa), Best Supporting Actor (Janith Lakmal) and Best Props.
The Faculty of Arts presented “Prathibimba” which was also an original play. It centered around a woman’s quest to find her own self, by revisiting the past and reliving the inner struggles that had caused her much torment. “Prathibima” deftly portrayed the struggles people go through in experiencing feelings of loneliness, love and hope, struggles that are exacerbated on account of the interference of society and education. The play forces the audience to think of such struggles in their own lives. The futility of existence is one of the major motifs of the play. That the play only managed to claim awards for Best Stage Direction and Best Lights and Sounds surprised many members of the audience.
The Science Faculty’s ventures into comedy have become predictable and 2013 was not an exception. “Sorry Mr. Shakespeare” was a lighthearted portrayal of characters who appear in Shakespearean tragedy and are usually considered with much gravitas. The personalities of these venerated characters have apparently been changed appreciably on account of a curse cast by the witches in Macbeth which leads to “untypical behaviour” by, say, the traditional lovers found in Shakespearian tragedy. The audience responded positively to a play that was a foil to the other two performed that evening. “Sorry Mr. Shakespeare” was awarded the trophies for Best Drama, Best Costumes and Best Direction.
The evening concluded with the guest performance by the Department of Fine Arts entitled “Socrates,” a production by Poojitha de Mel which was adapted from the original script by Sunanda Mahendra. A contribution to experimental theatre, “Socrates” foregrounds the contemporary socio-political and cultural contexts where a clash between knowledge and conventional thought leads to the suppression of true knowledge.
The last major anthologies of note (poetry or prose) appeared in 2010 so the publication of Mirrored Images: An Anthology of Sri Lankan Poetry edited by Rajiva Wijesinha and Write to Reconcile: An Anthology by Shyam Selvadurai was timely indeed. A companion piece to Bridging Connections: An Anthology of Sri Lankan Short Stories was compiled in 2007: the collection edited by Wijesinha is divided into three sections each of which carries poems translated from Sinhala and Tamil into English in addition to original English poetry. Each section is also preceded by a introduction by Amarakeerthi Liyanage, Chelva Kanaganayakam and Rajiva Wijesinha, respectively. The editor’s intention here is not different from what Michael Ondaatje hoped to achieve with his translation project via the Gratiaen Trust in which he first had a collection of Sinhala and Tamil stories translated into English in The Lankan Mosaic and then had the Sinhala storied translated into Tamil and vice versa in the second stage of the project. The aim in both projects is to bring all communities together via literature in particular translations. Wijesinha’s compilation includes both major and less well known poets.
The reasoning behind the anthology edited by Selvadurai is not too far removed from Wijesinha’s but achieved through different means as indicated on its website: Write to Reconcile is a creative writing project undertaken by The National Peace Council, in conjunction with the internationally renowned Sri Lankan author, Shyam Selvadurai, who will serve as Project Director. The aim of the project is to bring together emerging Sri Lankan writers who are interested in writing creative pieces (fiction, memoir or poetry) on the issues of conflict, peace, reconciliation, memory and trauma, as they relate to Sri Lanka or the Sri Lankan diaspora.
Selvadurai selected several young people from different ethnic origins who lived in diverse parts of the country, conducted workshops on writing, and the best examples were published in this anthology. Although the diaspora was not represented in the first volume, he intends to include such writers in the second year of the project.
The English Writers Cooperative, too, was active in organizing workshops and seminars on creative writing in addition to publishing Channels. A half-day workshop was conducted with the 2011 Gratiaen Prize winner Madhubhashini Ratnayake and the EWC also held a seminar on creative writing later in the year. Despite the abundance of such events and the Gratiaen Trust also thinking of adding its own version of writer development into the mix, there has not been a significant improvement in the quality of entries submitted to the Gratiaen prize overall. Judges over the last few years have the same complaint: most of the books and manuscripts sent for evaluation are of poor quality, although there are still a few that merit attention.
Bibliography
Bibliographies and Study Aids
Sri Lanka National Bibliography 51 (1–6 2013) 91pp; 50pp; 67pp; 80pp; 85pp; 75pp National Library of Sri Lanka (Colombo) pa annual sub Rs. 1200, US $50, or £32.
Poetry
Arasanayagam, Jean Lines Drawn on Water 151pp S.Godage and Brothers (Colombo) pa $15 USD.
— Face Reflection Well: Poems 136pp S.Godage (Colombo) pa Rs 750 [2012].
Carter, Barry “Cemetry Rose” Channels (19) p79.
Curran, Lihanthi “House No. 14” Channels (19) p104.
de Chickera, Lucky “Tormented Parting” Channels (19) p147.
de Silva, Lakshmi Reflections 35pp Vijitha Yapa (Colombo) pa Rs. 325.
Ebell, M.T.L. “Freedom” Channels (19) pp96-97.
Edirisinghe, Khulsum “Communion” Channels (19) p65.
Gomesz, Beverley Snapshots of Realism 66pp privately pub.
Gomez, Mario “The Flavours of Kahandamodara” Channels (19) p141.
Gunaratne, Sachintha “Us” Channels (19) pp55-56.
Halpe, Aparna Precarious Poems 77pp Bay Owl (Colombo) pa Rs 600.
Hewawitharana, Chamodi “Lonely Star and Other Poems” 77pp privately pub pa Rs. 250 [2012].
Jayasekera, Kamani Jostling Dreams 79pp S. Godage and Brothers (Colombo).
Liyanaarachchi, Phushathi “She” Channels (19) p125.
Mushin, Aamina “Serendipity” Channels (19) pp123-4.
Rajapakse, Shirani “The Capital” Channels (19) pp133-34.
Ranatunge, Palitha Shifting of My Paradigm 63pp privately pub.
Sachithanandan, Sakuntala “Rizana” Channels (19) pp113-14.
Samanthapali, Julia “Durga” Channels (19) p95.
Senadhira, Shireen “Last Sight” Channels (19) p110.
Senanayake, Jayani “Butterflies” Channels (19) p78.
Senaratne, Anthea “Let Us Not Complain” Channels (19) pp111-12.
— “A Flash of Red and Other Poems” ix+116pp privately pub.
Seneviratne, Malinda Edges: A Collection of Poems xi+81pp FastPublishing (Colombo).
Waidyasekera, Sam Cameos 120pp Stamford Lake (Colombo) pa Rs 350 [poetry and prose].
Weerasooriya, Rukshani “The Birth: Prelude to Death” Channels (19) p132.
Wijetunga, Minoli “Summer” Channels (19) p43.
Drama
Arasanayagam Thiyagarajah The Intruder: A Play in One Act 56pp S. Godage (Colombo) pa Rs 450.
Jayasinghe, Hashintha “Lock Upeke. . .” Channels (19) pp44-52
Fiction
Bandara, Indu “Hope. It’s a Story of Hope” Channels (19) pp98-103.
Boange, Dilshan Omunkashyu: A Novel 162pp Samaranayake (Colombo) pa $16 (usd).
Dawoodbhoy, Tasneem “Flipside” Channels (19) pp37-42.
de Alwis-Seneviratne, Rashantha Gods of the Realm: The Sigiriya Saga 149pp privately pub pa Rs.560.
Dissanayake, Aditha Somewhere on the Green Hills 224pp Serenity (Colombo) pa Rs. 450.
Ebell, M.T.L. Thus, She Grew 205pp Vijitha Yapa (Colombo).
Favero-Karunaratne, Rossana Channels (19) “The Art of Story-telling” pp126-31.
Fernando, Nivanka The Savage Dance 165pp Sarasavi (Nugegoda) pa Rs 450.
Fernando, Rajithangani Unanthenna What I Saw, What I Heard 118pp Stamford Lake (Pannipitiya).
Fernando, Vijita Somewhere 136pp privately published.
Fernando, Yolani “The Greatest Spy That Never Lived” Channels (19) pp142-46.
Ferrey, Ashok Love in the Tsunami 248pp Penguin (New Delhi) pa Rs 299 (Indian) [2012].
— The Professional 278pp Random House India (Noida) pa Rs 299 (Indian).
Fonseka, Mithara “Down the Pike through the Eyes of a Geezer” Channels (19) pp88-94.
Freeman, Ru On Sal Mal Lane 383pp Anansi Press (Toronto) pa $22.95 (Canadian).
Hewagama, Gayathri “An Ordinary Story” Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X & XI pp123-128.
Hussainmiya, Manel “Salt of the Earth” Channels (19) pp117-22.
Inoon, Ayesha “Renunciation” Channels (19) pp53-54.
Jayawardena, Elmo This and That: A Varied Collection xiii+221pp Stamford Lake (Colombo) pa Rs 500.
Kapuruge, Chamasha The Swan Pendant Sarasavi-vanik (Nugegoda) pa Rs. 300.
Kaththriarachchi, Jayanthi “Knell in the Forest” Channels (19) pp105-109.
Mayadunne, Nimalka Jayadeva Taken from the Safe 104pp S. Godage (Colombo).
Medawattegedara, Lal Playing Pillow Talk at MGK 449pp privately published.
Mendis, Mandulee The Candle Light 183pp Sarasavi (Nugegoda) pa Rs. 375.
Menike-Silva, Ransiri Worm’s Eye View xiii+246pp privately pub pa Rs. 400 [2012].
Muller, Carl Intrigues of the Lion 177pp Penguin (New Delhi) pa Rs 250 (Indian).
— Grandeur of the Lion 173pp Penguin (New Delhi) pa Rs 695 [2012].
Premaratne-Stuiver, Chitra “Running out of Patience” Channels (19) pp115-16.
Rajapake, Swarnakanthi The Master’s Daughter 181pp Sarasavi (Nugegoda) pa Rs 490.
Ratnayake, Faith J. “The Two-Edged Sword” Channels (19) pp148-54.
Riza, Mariam “The Child That Died” Channels (19) pp135-40.
Rozais, Abbasali “A Letter from the Heart” Channels (19) pp69-76.
Samarapathi, Nuwan UTurn: Inspired by True Stories 154pp ProMinds (Colombo) pa Rs. 1000.
Selvadurai, Shyam The Hungry Ghosts 373pp Penguin (New Delhi) pa Rs 1250.
Senarartne, Anthea A Flash of Red and Other Stories iv+116pp privately published.
Senaratne. Madhushala “Their Game” Channels (19) pp57-64.
Sirisena, W Boomerang 104pp S.Godage (Colombo).
Waduge, Gimhani Upeksha Single Thought Warusavithana Lab (Colombo) pa Rs 180.
Wanasundara, Nanda Pethiyagoda “Diabolic Hand Mirror” Channels (19) pp80-87.
Wettasinghe, Sybil My Giddi [sic] Aunt 168pp Adith Publishers (Nugegoda) [2012].
Wijesuriya, Usula P. The Fish Boys 57pp Sarasavi (Nugegoda) pa Rs 200.
Wijenaike, Punyakante When the Harvest Is Over 112pp Serenity (Nugegoda) pa Rs. 330 [fiction and some poetry].
Anthologies
Mirrored Images: An Anthology of Sri Lankan Poetry ed Rajiva Wijesinha xviii+399pp National Book Trust of India (New Delhi) $10.90 (usd).
Write to Reconcile: An Anthology ed Shyam Selvadurai 286pp Write to Reconcile (Colombo).
Translations
Amarasekara, Gunadasa Death by the Pool:The Final Episodes of a Man Facing His Destiny trans from Sinhala by Sunil de Silva 97pp Visidunu (Boralesgamuwa) pa Rs. 350.
Arunalantham, N.P. Changes Cannot Be Denied 97pp trans from Tamil by M. Jamespulle Thirumagal, Pathipagam (Mt. Laviniya) pa Rs. 350 [2012].
Gunasinha, Siri Sepalika: Selected Poems trans from Sinhala by Hemamali Gunasinghe ix+247pp S. Godage (Colombo) pa Rs 1500 [2012].
Ripples: Selected Sinhala Poems in English trans by Nihal Rajakarunanayake viii+79pp privately pub.
Interviews
de Alwis Seneviratne, Rashantha “The Story of Sigiriya: This Is Different” Shaveen Jeewandara The Sunday Times: Plus 17 March
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130317/plus/the-story-of-sigiriya-this-is-different-36687.html
de Chickera, Ruwanthie “Kalumali Focuses on Gender Disparity” Anurada Kodagoda Sunday Observer 23 December [2012]
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2012/12/23/mon15.asp
Fernando, Roshi “Roshi Fernando, Author of Homesick, Shares Her Passion for Books” “Celebrity Read” 3 March
Ferrey, Ashok “The Professional” Sapthika Jacob Life Online 18 September http://life.dailymirror.lk/article/6278/the-professional-ashok-ferrey;
“The Ferrey Factor” Imaad Majid The Sunday Leader 15 September
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2013/09/15/the-ferry-factor/;
“Ferrey at His Best” Seneka Abeyratne The Island 27 September
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=88914 [reviews of The Professional].
Freeman, Ru “War and Peace: Ru Freeman” Claire Kirch Publishers Weekly 11 January
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/55457-war-peace-ru-freeman.html;
“Cheryl Strayed Interviews Ru Freeman, ‘On Sal Mal Lane” Neal Thompson Shelfari 20 May
http://blog.shelfari.com/my_weblog/2013/05/cheryl-strayed-interviews-ru-freeman-on-sal-mal-lane.html
Medawattegedara, Lal “Writing for the Love of it – Gratiaen Winner Lal Medawattegedera Shares His Story” Nivedha Jeyaseelan Life Online 22 December
http://life.dailymirror.lk/article/5114/writing-for-the-love-of-it-#sthash.vjAubJRd.dpuf; “‘Stories Just Come to Me’”: LalMedawattegedara” Shailendree WickramaA dittiya The Nation 13 April
“The Story He Imagined” Yashashvi Kannangara Ceylon Today 12 May http://www.ceylontoday.lk/64-32155-news-detail-the-story-he-imagined.html
Selvadurai, Shyam “Memories Haunt in Shyam Selvadurai’s ‘The Hungry Ghosts’” Karry Taylor The Calgary Journal 4 October
http://www.calgaryjournal.ca/index.php/calgary-arts/books/1780-the-hungry-ghosts;
“Shyam Selvadurai Returns with Novel of Pure Human Longing” Hasanthika Sirisena The Globe and Mail 5 April http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/shyam-selvadurai-returns-with-novel-of-raw-human-longing/article10805125/.
Miscellaneous
de Silva, Kumar Irangani 146pp Samaranayake Publishers (Colombo) [life of Irangani Serasinghe as told to the biographer by Irangani Serasinghe].
Jayawardena, Elmo This and That: A Varied Collection xiii+221pp Stamford Lake (Colombo).
Nagasunderam, Parvati Essential Grammar: A Reference Book for Teachers of English 248pp pa Rs. 600 [2012].
Ratnayake, Wickrema Farewell to My Village: Reminiscences of Life in a Village in the 1940s in Sri Lanka 88pp S.Godage and Brothers (Colombo) pa Rs 450.
Ratwatte, Samudra. Tea and Memories: Reminiscences of a Tea Planter’s Wife 80pp privately pub pa Rs 500.
Deraniyagala, Sonali Wave: A Memoir after the Tsunami 212pp Virago (London) pa Rs 1300.
Ganeshananthan, Vimala The Yaal Players: Memories of Old Jaffna 360pp Kumaran Book House (Jaffna).
Criticism
“Gratiaen Prize Has ‘Leavened’ Sri Lanka’s Cultural Scene” Jayantha Dhanapala The Island 14 May [speech script as Chair of Gratiaen Panel of Judges] http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=79013
“Lifting a Story off the Page” Vijita Fernando Channels (19) pp13-15.
“On Marketing the Subaltern: Sales Tags for Postcolonial Margins” Meena T. Pillai Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X & XI pp1-10.
Original Sin in the Oberammergau Passion Play Wijith Rohan S.Godage (Colombo) xii+146pp.
“Mapping Power Relations in Sri Lanka: Re-Reading Pala Pothupitiye’s ‘Point Pedro’ and ‘Jaffna’” Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X & XI pp67-71.
“Mirrored Images: Poetry an Undisputed Path to Reconciliation” Jonathan Swift [pseudonym] The Nation 6 October http://www.nation.lk/edition/feature-eye/item/21580-mirrored-images-poetry-an-undisputed-path-to-reconciliation.html [review of Mirrored Images]; “Mirrored Images: A Move Towards Unity (and Sanity)” S. Pathmanathan Reconciliation and Rights: Sri Lanka 16 October
“Poetry: The Language of the Imagination (The Best Words in Their Best Order)” Yasmine Gooneratne Channels (19) pp16-33.
“Reading Halal in the Classroom: Pedagogical Queries and Political Disquietitudes” Sivamohan Sumathy Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X & XI pp11-18.
“The Radium-Finders of Sri Lankan Literature” Admin [Vihanga Perera] In Love with a Whale 18 May https://slwakes.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/the-radium-finders-of-sri-lankan-literature/.
“The Transition of the Muslim from the ‘Comic Other’ to the ‘Satanic Other’ in Contemporary Sinhala Cyber Literature” Vihanga Perera Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X& XI pp97-103.
“Writing for the Diaspora from the Diaspora” Shashi Assella Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X& XI pp61-66.
Arasanayagam, Jean “Poet, Author, Activist, Dr Jean Arasanayagam PhD Lett” Sarah Hannan The Sunday Leader 7 July
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2013/07/07/poet-author-activist-dr-jean-arasanayagam-phd-lett/.
Arunalantham, N.P. “A Prolific Writer’s Stories” K.S. Sivakumaran Daily News: Features 30 January http://archives.dailynews.lk/2013/01/30/fea23.asp [review of Changes Cannot Be Denied].
Boange, Dilshan “Dilshan Boange’s Omunkashy: A Complex and Innovative Novel” Stephen Muecke Daily Mirror 20 September http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/172-opinion/35718-dilshan-boanges-omunkashy-a-complex-and-innovative-novel.html; “A Shared Journey, a Conversation and Now a Novel” Smriti Daniel The Sunday Times Magazine 27 October http://www.sundaytimes.lk/131027/magazine/a-shared-journey-a-conversation-and-now-a-novel-66517.html.
Bunny, Sam and Karen Roberts “Expatriate Depictions of the Village in Estuary and The Lament of the Dhobi Woman” Marlon Ariyasinghe Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X & XI pp89-96 [article on two novels: Sam Bunny Estuary and Karen Roberts The Lament of the Dhoby Woman].
de Chickera, Lucky “Pink Elephants ’n’ Red Roses” Katherine Abeykone The Island 30 March http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=75868 [review of Pink Elephants N’ Red Roses].
de Kretser, Michelle “Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser: Review” A.S. Byatt The Guardian 17 April http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/apr/27/questions-travel-michelle-de-kretser-review; “Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser” Frank Moorhouse The Guardian: Australia Culture Blog 17 June http://www.theguardian.com/books/australia-culture-blog/2013/jun/17/questions-travel-michelle-de-kretser-review; “When Two Paths Meet” Randy Boyagoda New York Times: Sunday Book Review 21 June http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/books/review/questions-of-travel-by-michelle-de-kretser.html?_r=0; “Michelle de Kretser, Questions of Travel” Melinda Harvey Australian Book Review October [2012] https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/events/75-october-2012/1171-michelle-de-kretser-questions-of-travel.
de Silva, Lakshmi “A Whole Range of Interests: From the Emotional to the Flippant” D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke The Island 12 November http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=91967; “Craft of Verse” Daya Dissanayake Daily News 8 May [reviews of Reflections].
Fernando, Vijita “A Timely Tale and Right in Its Place” Neville Weereratne The Island 26 October http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=90959; “Somewhere: Looking Back on an Evolving Village” Smriti Daniel The Sunday Times 2 June http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130602/plus/somewhere-looking-back-on-an-evolving-village-46824.html [reviews of Somewhere].
Ferrey, Ashok “Ferrey at His Best” Senaka Abeyratne The Island 8 October http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=88914; “The Ferrey Factor” Imaad Majeed The Sunday Leader 8 October http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2013/09/15/the-ferry-factor/ [reviews of The Professional].
Freeman, Ru “Just around the Corner ‘On Sal Mal Lane’” Christina Garcia New York Times: Sunday Book Review 21 June http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/books/review/on-sal-mal-lane-by-ru-freeman.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0; “On Sal Mal Lane by Ru Freeman” Michelle Levy World Literature Today November 2013 http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2013/november/sal-mal-lane-ru-freeman#.U5G793bm6SA; “In Ru’s New Novel, the War Comes Home” Kathleen Byrne The Globe and Mail 19 May http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/in-ru-freemans-new-novel-the-war-comes-home/article11991378/.
Ganeshananthan, Vimala “Ganeshananthan’s The Yaal Players Memories of Old Jaffna” Nanda P. Wanasundera The Island 2 March http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=73843; “The Yaal Players – Memories of Old Jaffna” Nalini MacIntyre The Sunday Times: Plus13 March http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130303/plus/vivid-portrayal-of-a-lost-world-35010.html; “Life and Times in Old Jaffna: A Review” R.S. Perinbanayagam The Colombo Telegraph 6 April https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/life-and-times-in-old-jaffna-a-review/.
Ganeshananthan, V.V. “Reading Ganeshananthan’s Love Marriage as an Enemy: On Receiving Knowledges of ‘Third World’ (f)Fictional Women Subalterns” Gayathri Hewagama Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X & XI pp73-78.
Govinnage, Sunil “Diasporic – Long Fiction Debut” Edwin Ariyadasa Sunday Observer 13 January http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2013/01/13/mon26.asp [review of The Black Australian].
Halpé, Aparna “The Making of Memory: Aparna Halpé’s ‘Precarious’” Vihanga Perera In Love with a Whale http://slwakes.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/the-making-of-memory-aparna-halpes-precarious/
Hussein, Ameena “Contemporary Sri Lankan Muslim Communities and Views on Religion and Culture: Ameena Hussein’s The Moon in the Water” Isabel Alonso Breto Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X & XI pp105-22.
Jayasekera, Kamani “Not Another Pseudo-modernist Work” Sunanda Mahendra Daily News: Muse 21 August http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=features/not-another-pseudo-modernistic-work [review of Jostling Dreams].
Meddawattegedera, Lal “Everyone Has a Story to Tell: That is Where Lal Steps in” Smriti Daniel. Sunday Times: Plus 13 May
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130512/plus/everyone-has-a-story-to-tell-thats-where-lal-steps-in-43678.html [On Lal Meddawattegedera winning the Gratiaen Prize].
Mind Adventures Theatre “The Politics of ‘Paraya” Gehan Gunatilleke Groundviews: Journalism of Citizens 24 September http://groundviews.org/2013/09/24/the-politics-of-paraya/ [review of ‘Paraya’].
Selvadurai, Shyam “The Hungry Ghosts” Steph VanderMeulan Quill and Quire May 2013 http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=7974; “Shyam Selvadurai’s Beautifully Written Novel ‘The Hungy Ghosts’ is Full of Substance and Dichotomy” Milan Lin-Rodrigo dbsjeyaraj.com 22 August http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/24664; “Shyam Selvadurai ‘The Hungry Ghosts’” Dave Rush The Republic Square 22 July http://www.therepublicsquare.com/entertainment/2013/07/22/shyam-selvadurais-the-hungry-ghosts-review/; “The Hungry Ghosts” Jennifer Hunter thestar.com http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2013/04/19/the_hungry_ghosts_by_shyam_selvadurai_review.html; “Shyam Sevadurai Returns with a Novel of Raw Longing” Hasanthika Sirisena The Globe and Mail 5 April http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/shyam-selvadurai-returns-with-novel-of-raw-human-longing/article10805125/.
Spittel, R.L. “The Indigenous Community in the Colonial Eye: Influences on Spittel’s Far off Things” Chandana Dissanayake Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X & XI pp53-59.
Wettasinghe, Sybil “Confessions of MT House” Aditha Dissanayake Daily News 7 August http://dailynews.lk/?q=features/confessions-m-t-house [review of My Giddy Aunt].
Wijenaike, Punyakante “Punyakante’s Subtle Taste of Taboo” S.W. Additiya The Nation 14 July http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/19189-punyakante%E2%80%99s-subtle-taste-of-taboo.html[general review of the author’s career]; “When the Harvest is Over” Rajiva Wijesinha Colombo Telegraph 9 November https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/when-the-harvest-is-over/comment-page-1/; “A Celebratory Publication” Rechelle Fonseka The Nation 18 August http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/20134-a-celebratory-publication.html [reviews of When the Harvest Is Over].
Wikkramasinha, Lakdasa “Re-centering the Postcolonial Subject: The Poetry of Lakdasa Wikkramasinha” Annemarie de Silva Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X & XI pp79-88.
Journals
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (LVIII) Part 1 96, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha; annual journal for members of RASSL which covers research on a range of topics relating to Sri Lanka including Language, Literature and the Arts.
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (58) Part 2 96, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha; annual journal for members of RASSL which covers research on a range of topics relating to Sri Lanka including Language, Literature and the Arts [with this issue, RASL abandoned the practice of using the Roman numeral system to denote the volume number].
Phoenix: Sri Lanka Journal of English in the Commonwealth X& XI pa Rs 300/$10/£6 [Journal of the Sri Lanka Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies. This issue includes the papers presented at the SLACLALS conference held in 2013].
The Sri Lanka Journal of the Humanities XXXVIII (1) Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya. A publication which carries articles on all aspects of the Humanities including reviews and critical essays on Literature and Language [2012].
Channels: Contemporary Sri Lankan Writing (19) [Annual journal of creative writing by the English Writers Cooperative of Sri Lanka].