Gleanings - K.S.
Sivakumaran
Creative Expressions 2
Nimal Sanderatne has again brought out another edition of Creative
Writing through his concern Kandy Books at 17 Upper Hantana Road,
Peradeniya in the series Creative Expressions. The collection edited by
him is the second to come out.
Neatly printed with 120 pages, it includes poems by Parvathi Solomons
Arasanayagam, Sriyani Hulugalle, Nalin Jayasuriya, Asoka Perera,
Chandima Rajapathirana, Ranjini Wickremaratne Rebero and Nayani Weragoda.
Those who have written short stories are: Jean Solomons Arasanayagam,
Jesse Camplin, Sarath Edirisinghe, Leonard Graholm, Sriyani Hulugalle,
Leela Rani Jayasinghe, Asoka Perera, Valentine Perera, Ransiri Menike
Silva and W.A. Wijewardena.
Let me quote from the Introduction by Nimal Sanderatrne who is also
an Economist and a lover of English Literature. He is a columnist and a
former Chairman of Bank of Ceylon:
"...the authors are of varied backgrounds, professions and ages. Two
writers are from Canada, three are Sri Lankan expatriates and the others
are Sri Lankans residing in the country.
Two of the writers are doctors, two are economists one is a lawyer
and one is a psychologist" The book provides notes on the authors which
are helpful for those of us who do not know enough of them. The
publisher himself has reviewed each of the contributions with which I
agree almost totally.
Therefore I need not restate them and would suggest that readers read
the book and form their own impressions.
However, I shall at random give you some passages I liked in the
different styles of writing employed by the writers. Let's take the
poems first.
Out of the ten poems included I liked very much the poems by Ranjini
Wickremaratne- Reberu, Asoka Perera and Parvathi Solomons Arasanayagam
and Nalini Jayasuriya. It's the latter's artistic work that adorns the
cover
Birdsong cradled in grass-green emerald, All caught in the dance of
dawning life, a stage with endless curtain calls, converging across
cultural difference blending into one hyphenated identity, creating one
glorious symphony of life. (Ranjini Wickramaratne-Rebera in A
Celebration of Sixty)
The silence filtering in sun wedges on empty wooden pews, outside the
heat is unending on the silent cobbled road, soldiers in camouflage
uniforms guard forgotten ghosts (Parvathi Solomons Arasanayagam in Visit
to a Dutch Church Galle) As for the Short Stories, I liked most the ones
written by Jean Solomons Arasanasyagam, Sriyani Hulugalle, Ransiri
Menike Silva and W.A. Wijewardena. The stories and poems by others in
this collection are by no means uninteresting.
Collections like this help us in many ways: to understand the talent
discernible in abundance by our writers in English, provide
supplementary reading for young students of English Literature in Lanka
and gives us readers the pleasure of reading of re-enacting human
relationships.
Like Navasilu, Channels and Waves - publications in English devoted
to creative writing in Lanka, Creative Expressions too keep us informed
and entertained.
I expected a contribution of creative writing by Nimal Sanderatne as
well, maybe in the next collection we could read one by him.
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