The Gratiaen Prize, awarded annually by The Gratiaen Trust since 1993, is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a shortlist that includes poetry, science fiction, and short stories. The shortlist was announced on Wednesday (17) at the British Council, and consists of Flowers Teach Me to Let Go by Isurinie Anuradha Mallawaarachchi, Keeping Time and Other Stories by Chiranthi Rajapakse, Samsara by Shirani Rajapakse, and The Wretched and the Damned by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne.
The panel of judges this year is chaired by author Romesh Gunesekera, who could not be at the shortlist announcement. However, fellow judge Sukanya Wignaraja, who is a psychotherapist and coach, made the shortlist announcement, with Dr. Kaushalya Perera sharing more details about the choice of work.
“We had a wide range of entries this year in terms of genre and subject matter, and from what we saw, also authors. Poetry made up about one third of the entries. And we could also see that the political and economic events of the last year were very evident when we read the whole list of works, and that came up again and again in many different ways,” Dr. Perera said. She added that the judges also found a significant amount of focus on fantasy and psychological trauma and impressive entries in drama and young adult fiction. “Reading through all these texts gave us a very real sense of the wide scope of Sri Lankan literary writing in English,” Dr. Perera said.
She shared that, as jurors, they looked for writing that showed control of language, craft, meaning and distinctiveness. “We had a few rounds of discussion to select both the longlist and the shortlist. And I am happy and relieved to say that our choices for the longlist and the shortlist were unanimous,” Dr. Perera added.
Three decades of supporting creative writing
The Gratiaen Trust is celebrating an important anniversary this year, as The Gratiaen Prize will be awarded for the 30th time. While the winner will be announced on 17 June, The Gratiaen Trust Chairperson Prof. Neloufer de Mel explained that the prize recognises the best submitted creative work in English by Sri Lankan authors resident in the country.
Sharing that Sri Lankan literature in English has been in the shadows for a very long time, Prof. de Mel said: “These past few years, Sri Lankan literature in English has been claiming its own space and gaining traction, with Shehan Karunatilaka’s Booker Prize win coming 30 years after Michael Ondaatje won the Booker and founded the Gratiaen Trust.”
Listing other local authors who have gained recognition globally, Prof. de Mel said: “This country and Sri Lankan life yields a rich storehouse of stories and our job is to support and promote the talent of these writers and their craft to make these stories legible – to make them sing and resonate with readers here and elsewhere.”
In addition to The Gratiaen Prize, the trust will also be awarding the H.A.I.G Prize for Translation this year.
Shortlist venue partner
Delivering the welcome address at The Gratiaen Prize shortlist announcement was British Council Country Director Orlando Edwards, who shared that British Council has been the venue partner for The Gratiaen shortlist announcement since 1993.
“We are delighted to be here 30 years later celebrating the 30th anniversary this year, and I’m told in fact that the inauguration of the prize itself by the great Michael Ondaatje took place one sunny day on the lawn of the British Council. This year, we are very pleased to be providing additional financial support for The Gratiaen Trust as part of our contribution to the British High Commission’s 75th anniversary celebrations,” Edwards said.
He added that the British Council this year has a rich portfolio of cultural activities, with plans to develop broader global writing communities. “Through our partnership with The Gratiaen Trust, we’ll be bringing talented UK writers to Sri Lanka and finding new ways to showcase both well-known and emerging UK writing talent to Sri Lankan audiences.”
Supporting art and culture
John Keells Foundation, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) entity of the John Keells Group, is the primary sponsor of The Gratiaen Trust. Speaking about their relationship with the trust as well as their support for the arts in Sri Lanka was John Keells Group, Head of CSR Carmeline Jayasuriya.
“John Keells Foundation’s partnership with The Gratiaen Trust falls within our focus area of arts and culture, which is one of our pillars under CSR, which also includes education, health, livelihood development, environment sustainability, and disaster relief,” she said.
Jayasuriya went on to say that their support of the arts and culture may be a question mark to some, especially considering that John Keells Group is a corporate entity. “Why we do it is because we feel that arts and culture are very critical to the country’s success and progress, and its vision in the outside world,” she explained.