The 2012 Gratiaen Prize short-list
Standard Chartered's proud affiliation with the Gratiaen Prize - Sri
Lanka's most coveted literary award for writing in English by a resident
Sri Lankan, spans most of the history of the award which celebrates its
20th anniversary this year.
This evening at the shortlist announcement event, hosted by the
British Council, Sri Lanka, which is also the inaugural event for the
Standard Chartered Colomboscope, held at the Chequerboard, Park Street
Mews the judges announced the much anticipated short list of five
authors, selected from amongst approximately 60 plus submissions.
Standard Chartered's Chief Executive Officer, Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar
commenting on the Gratiaen Prize said:
"Standard Chartered has been affiliated with the Gratiaen Prize event
for close to two decades since the inception of the award by Michael
Ondaatje and it is an inspiration to us all that the award celebrates
its 20th anniversary this year. The Bank is committed to fostering the
arts and literature in Sri Lanka. I congratulate the Trust on its
continued efforts to engender literary excellence."
The short listed writers for 2012 are:
1 Rizvina Morseth de Alwis - It's not in the Stars/Novel/Unpublished
[email protected]
2 Ruwanthie de Chickera & Nadie Kammallaweera - Kalumaali - a fairy
tale for grown ups/Drama/unpublished
[email protected]
3 Lal Medawattegedera - Playing Pillow Politics at
MGK/Novel/unpublished
[email protected]
4 Malinda Seneviratne - Open Words are for
Love-Letting/Poetry/Published
[email protected]
5 Saroj Sinnetamby - The Professional/Novel/unpublished
[email protected]
The five short listed authors presented excerpts from their work, the
readings affording a brief insight into their work and why they are
amongst this year's chosen.
The award event, which will be held on 4th May 2013 at the
Chequerboard, Park Street Mews this year, will recognize one of the five
as the winner of the prestigious 2012 Gratiaen Prize - the 20th
anniversary of the award.
The Gratiaen Prize rewards the best writing in English by a resident
Sri Lankan.
The judges for the 2012 award Jayantha Dhanapala (Chairperson), Lynn
Ockersz and Sumathy Sivamohan have made their choice from sixty plus
entries submitted by authors and publishers, which included fiction,
poetry, drama and literary memoirs, either published during the last
year or presented in manuscript form.
The value of the prize is Sri Lankan Rs 200,000.
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