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Gratiaen Award 2003: Comments by Chairman of the Judges' Panel, Priya David

"We work in the dark, we give what we have, we do what we can. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art."

These words of Henry James, in one of his short stories, describe the modus operandi of the creative writer. They are obviously in context this evening, but they also serve to put things further into context for us.

First, they remind us of the fine efforts of this year's twenty nine Gratiaen contestants. They probably literally worked in the dark, while the rest of us presumably slept. They gave what they had and did what they could.

They had no idea whether they would succeed or not. Yet, this doubt was their passion and their passion their task. The result is the wonderfully rich and varied crop of entries we have enjoyed this year.

Secondly, "working in the dark" reminds us that writers work from the dark place of the heart. The figurative heart refers to the man or woman we are inside, the essential person, the whole gamut of feelings, thoughts, passions, appetites, intentions, fears, aspirations, hopes and ideas that make us what we really are.

And when a writer finds the right expression for the thoughts and intentions of his heart, as his creative imagination "gives to airy nothing a local habitation and a name", he strikes a responsive chord in the heart of the sensitive reader. It is a case of deep calling unto deep. Critics must remember that this is how literature works.

And thirdly, this is a reminder that literature is very much a part of "the madness of art". Literature is not dependent for its respectability or acceptability on the so-called sanity of philosophy, sociology, psychology, science, theology or any other discipline. It may make use of these as grist to its mill, but it remains supremely independent of them.

Literature must, therefore, be liberated from the tyranny of extraneous considerations which are invariably brought to bear upon it by those with axes to grind based on their own particular areas of specialisation. Literature acknowledges only the logic of art and it must be judged accordingly.

My fellow judges and I were honoured to have been appointed judges by the Gratiaen Trust. They honoured us further by leaving us severely alone thereafter.

There was no attempt to monitor us, no anxious calls for feedback. This complete autonomy that we enjoyed was itself a motivating factor. We appreciate this exemplary detachment on the part of the Trust.

As we told you at the earlier event at the British Council, despite our not employing any predetermined criteria we were almost immediately unanimous in our choice of the five works to be shortlisted. However when we met again two nights ago, we asked each other why we preferred these five above the rest.

In our answers to this question we discovered the principles that had implicitly or unconsciously determined our choice. These we would like to acquaint you with on this occasion as well as offer them, in all humility, for consideration by writers aspiring or practising, established or not.

First of all, the five works were all genuinely interesting. We found it difficult to put them down, kept returning to them, until we had finished them.

In addition, they were serious. they dealt with real, vital issues, whether the tragedy of loneliness, the imperfectability of romantic love in the face of transience, the ethnic conflict, the sinister realities of bureaucracy or the plight of women in a world rules by men.

Next, all five were representative of real life. They captured the feel of life, both its surface textures and the things that lie beneath the surface. The ambience that was projected felt intensely real, we found ourselves able to identify with the milieu of each work.

There was nothing schematic, no preconceived pattern to which the reality portrayed was subjected, as was the case with some other submissions. If a pattern was apparent it emerged organically from the reality as projected.

And for this same reason, the language and the style of the five works seemed to be natural or spontaneous. There was no over-writing or straining after effect, as we found in some of the other entries. There was, if you will allow the oxymoron, no intensification from outside.

Thus the language and style, too, were organic in relation to the works, you could say that their manner arose naturally from their matter.

We were also attracted to the sensibilities that were evidently at work in these writings. They suggested humaneness, honesty and perceptiveness. Not only did we get the sense of a pleasing personality behind each book, there was the evidence of depth of character too.

Finally to use a phrase from business, we appreciated their creation of value for us. The works, we felt, enhanced the system of values by which any serious-thinking person views reality. We felt our consciousness extended, our consciences not only aroused but changed for the better.

To use that wonderful phrase of D. H. Lawrence's the changing rainbow of our living relationships, our relation to our circumambient universe, was beneficially adjusted and deepened.

"For its moving story, for its constant feel of real life, for its consistency of narrative momentum, for its descriptive power, for its dramatic use of dialogue to define social context, capture character psychology and trace the development of relationship, for its convincing demonstration that resolution of conflict and reconciliation of differences are feasible through mutual experience and regard, and last though not least, for its eminently civilised handing of the last degree of intimacy between a man and a woman, or choice for the 2003 Gratiaen Prize for creative writing in English, is unquestionably, "The Road From Elephant Pass" by Nihal de Silva.

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