Lankan woman writer wins prestigious award

US: Three fiction writers, a poet and two essayists have been named recipients of the 14th annual Rona Jaffe Foundation's awards, grants of $25,000 each for "women writers of talent and promise in the early stages of their writing careers."

Hasanthika Sirisena, a native of Sri Lanka now living in New York City is among the recipients.

The winners, announced Wednesday, include Jennifer Culkin, a nurse who lives in Bainbridge Island, Wash., and is working on a book of essays about her medical experiences; and fellow essayist Amy Leach, of Evanston, Ill., currently writing about such topics as jellyfish, peas and lizards. Also cited were poet Joanne Dominique Dwyer of Santa Fe, N.M.; novelists Jolie Lewis of Richwood, W.Va., and Tillson, N.Y., resident Therese Stanton, working on a book of short fiction. NEW YORK, AP