• H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize for Literary Translation awarded to Priyangwada Perera’s ‘Wid Keirdo’

In Sri Lanka’s literary calendar, the Gratiaen Prize, awarded annually, is undoubtedly one of the most looked forward to events. Presented by The Gratiaen Trust, the prize recognises the best work of creative writing in English by a Sri Lankan residing in the country.

This year’s winner, announced on 31 May, is Savin Edirisinghe, whose ‘Kata Katha: Gossip, Rumours, and Idle Talk’ won the 32nd Gratiaen Prize. Meanwhile, the H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize for Literary Translation, awarded every two years, went to Priyangwada Perera, for her translation of Sudath de Mel’s ‘Lamuthu Amaya’, which was published as ‘Wid Keirdo’.

A gossip-loving nation

Sri Lankans love their gossip and idle talk, and Edirisinghe’s win reflected this. His book was selected from a shortlist of five: ‘Wombful of Weeds’ by Ranudi Gunawardena, ‘The Warm South’ by Vihanga Perera, ‘Nowhere No Return’ by Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe, and ‘He Was God’s Child Too’ by Upali Mahaliyana.

The 32nd Gratiaen Prize was judged by Gregory Pardlo, Dr. Crystal Baines, and Savithri Rodrigo. Prior to announcing the winner, Pardlo said: “Savithri, Crystal, and I have read 82 manuscripts together. The books we read reflect a range of styles, of course, but they also reflect a range of temperaments and sensibilities. We encountered books driven as much by whimsy and play as they were compelled by moral and political imperative.”

He added: “We knew going in that we would need a kind of North Star that might keep us collectively on course without predetermining the destination. How might we balance tradition in Sri Lankan literature while championing novelty, innovation, and risk – qualities that challenge our understanding of what a tradition should be and do?”

He went on to say: “Our solution was to look for books that celebrated the very same qualities built into the conceptual foundations. To put it differently, we looked for books that embraced the contradictions of our historical moment with wit, intelligence, compassion, and above all, imagination.”

Describing the winning novel, Pardlo said it invited the reader into an intimate exchange of far more than words on a page. “The first line plunges us into a world that is specifically located, approachably vernacular, contentious, and despite its disclaimers, totally magical. This book draws on the conflicts, however petty, however epic, that shape our daily lives.”

“Just as gossip is communal, we are all in complicit critique, beginning in whimsy, only to end in outrage. This author’s prose can be as blunt as it is surgical. This collection of witty, bold, and experimental short stories rests on the premise that a form of oral knowledge system is the cornerstone of our civilisation,” he added.

Disturbing the comfortable

Accepting the 32nd Gratiaen Prize, Edirisinghe paid tribute to his father, Sunil Edirisinghe – not the singer, the author clarified – who passed away five months ago but was pivotal in Edirisinghe’s submission to the Gratiaen.

“There’s one person in the whole wide world that would love to see this, even though he wouldn’t understand it. Actually, there are two people, my mother and my father, both of them don’t speak English, don’t know English, but they wanted their child to speak and do English things, I suppose,” he said.

Edirisinghe explained that they entered him into an international school with the hope of improving his English, the first years of which were challenging as Edirisinghe was still learning the language and his parents struggled to help him with his schoolwork.

The author went on to share that he had initially wanted to publish a collection of poetry in Sinhala, but that his father encouraged him to publish ‘Kata Katha’ instead. Author Ashok Ferrey, who read one of his works, encouraged him to publish it or at the very least, submit it for the Gratiaen.

Sharing the quote, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable,” Edirisinghe said this has been his motto and mission when writing. He said he always wanted someone sitting comfortably to read his work and feel uncomfortable and for someone in distress to think things will be fine.

“Hopefully, I have done it,” he said, adding that ‘Kata Katha’ was developed over five years. “We like to gossip. We talk about each other,” he said, pointing out that we talk both good and bad about each other.

“And I hope gossip, rumours, and idle talk will guide us further,” he said, adding: “I hope that everyone starts telling their stories, even if their stories aren’t theirs – especially if the stories aren’t theirs. Because not everyone is capable, privileged, or even brave enough to tell their stories.”

He concluded by quoting Lex Luthor from the ‘Superman’ comics, who said: “Some people can read ‘War and Peace’ and come away thinking it’s a simple adventure story. Others can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe.”

Edirisinghe said: “So, uncover the secrets of the universe. Read the back of your chewing gum pack, because that’s where everything starts.”

Power of translation

While the Gratiaen Prize tends to be in focus, the importance of the H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize for Literary Translation cannot be ignored. The prize recognises the power of translation in taking literary work to an even larger readership. This is especially important in the local context, where language barriers could prevent works in Sinhala or Tamil from reaching global audiences.

This year, the jury for the H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize for Literary Translation was chaired by Dr. Krishantha Fedricks. He was accompanied by Shash Trevett and Dileepa Abeysekera. Announcing the winner, Dr. Fedricks said: “Over the past few years, we have read and reflected on 14 submissions. We didn’t read them only because we were jurors, but because we found great joy and insight in discovering these literary works of Sri Lanka through the lens of translation.”

The jurors approached their task with a shared set of criteria to guide their reading: Selection, accessibility, accuracy, and readability.

“This year’s entries included nine novels, eight originally in Sinhala and one in Tamil, as well as one short story collection, two poetry collections, and two works based on folklore,” he said, adding: “The diversity in genre and theme was impressive. The original works represented the wide spectrum of Sri Lanka’s social and political landscape. While many of them were recent publications, some had been written decades ago and continue to resonate.”

He explained that a number of the original works have already been recognised through literary awards or had stirred lively critical conversations locally. “It is exciting to see them reaching wider audiences through translation. We were particularly heartened by the translators’ efforts to remain faithful to the original texts,” he said.

“In some cases, the translations closely mirrored the line-by-line structure of the original. In others, the translators took bold and effective steps to reshape the content for English-language readers without compromising meaning and mood.”

However, Dr. Fedricks pointed out that only one submission was a Tamil to English translation. “We strongly feel that more Sinhala and Tamil literature deserves to be translated and amplified on national and global platforms,” he added.

Accepting the prize, Perera looked back on her nine-year-old self, who wanted to learn good English simply to be able to speak to her role model and favourite cricketer Jonty Rhodes. She added: “I wanted to win it for the people and institutions which stood by me when I walked a very difficult path.”

Speaking about ‘Wid Keirdo’, Perera said the book needs to be read by people, especially parents. “Children will anyway love it, but this is not a children’s book. It is a novel for everyone.”

She also spoke about what went into the translation of de Mel’s ‘Lamuthu Amaya’, saying she translated two-thirds of the book on her phone while commuting in Gampaha-Nugegoda highway buses. “With technology and AI, people think translating is a piece of cake. But it is not,” she added.