The Literary Series Presented by The Gratiaen Trust

The Gratiaen Trust, in association with John Keells Foundation, is organizing a series of events that will connect its award winning writers and their books with readers and those who love literature. 

The first in the series was a literary weekend which was held in partnership with the Bentota Beach Hotel.
The second event is in celebration of Children’s Day, and is targeted at young readers. It will be a fun day of readings and story-telling which will be held at The Sarasavi bookstore at the Galle Face One. 

The Literary Weekend and the Children’s Day literary event were conceptualized as avenues to showcase Sri Lankan creative writing in English to readers.The Gratiaen Trust hopes that the Literary weekend, and the Children’s Day event will act as bridge between the two groups. As Neloufer De Mel, Chairperson of the Trust said, “The Trust is always keen to bring Sri Lankan literature in English to readers. But we also hope that the interaction between writers and their audiences will inspire more Sri Lankan creative writing. We are particularly excited about our Children’s Day event.

Each year the Gratiaen Prize attracts a significant number of children’s books and manuscripts as entries. 
Sybil Wettasinghe, who won the Prize in 1995, is a legend in this genre, and others such as Prashani Rambukwella have written books that have captured the imagination of many young readers and sold multiple copies. This year we were very proud to have among our short-listed writers, 16-year-old Praveen Jayamanna. We hope that both Sri Lankan literature in English for children and a younger readership will grow,resulting in wonderful children’s books that are widely read.”

The Children’s Day event is being held according to the social distancing norms currently in place. As a result, the number of participants are restricted to a small number of literature enthusiasts and young readers who have pre-registered. However, edited videos of the writers’ sessions and panels from the Bentota event will be uploaded on the Gratiaen Trust Facebook page so that many others can also watch and listen to what the writers had to say.
The Children’s Day event will be held on October 1st 2020, in association with John Keells Foundation, and is supported by TNL Radio and Sarasavi. Separate morning and afternoon sessions are being held to accommodate more children. The sessions will include dramatised readings as well as a workshop on the craft of story-telling. Both sessions are targeted at age groups 6-12 years.

The Trust is always keen to bring Sri Lankan literature in English to readers. 

The Gratiaen Trust was founded in 1992 by Michael Ondaatje, the internationally renowned novelist, poet and essayist of Sri Lankan origin. Funded with his Booker prize money for his novel The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje’s vision was to establish a Trust that would recognize and promote creative writing in English by Sri Lankan authors resident in the country.