Top international authors to attend major literary festival in Sri Lanka

By APD writer Easwaran

**COLOMBO, Oct. 11 (APD) ** – Top international authors are to attend a major literary festival in Sri Lanka next year, organizers announced on Wednesday.

The annual Fairway Galle Literary Festival returns for the ninth time at its home, the UNESCO World heritage site of Galle Fort, in southern Sri Lanka from January 24th - 28th 2018.

The Fairway Galle Literary Festival is Sri Lanka’s only dedicated literary festival and will feature renowned and accomplished authors, filmmakers, radio broadcasters, newspaper editors and academics from countries around the world including England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Guyana, Pakistan, India and Tasmania.

Highlights of the 2018 Festival include the attendance of Pankaj Mishra, author of ‘Age of Anger’(2017) and of Shrabani Basu, whose novel ‘Victoria and Abdul’ has just been made into a major motion picture starring Dame Judi Dench; also in attendance acclaimed film producer David, Lord Puttnam, the recipient of 10 Oscars who memorably brought us ‘Chariots of Fire.’

Other acclaimed writers include Bachi Karkaria whose recent publication ‘In Hot Blood’ is the first nonfiction account of the famous Nanavati murder case that was to signal the end of the jury system in India, Alexander McCall Smith, EmeritusProfessor of Medical Ethics at the University of Edinburgh, whose popular ‘No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’ novels follow a female detective in Botswana.

Yet other authors include Bruce Wannell who is a scholar, linguist and travel writer; his works include ‘Sufism: Mystical Writings of Islam’ (2007) and books on Iran and Ancient Persia. Guyanese - born broadcaster, novelist, poet and academicDavid Dabydeen is prolific writer whose first collection of poems ‘Slave Song’ (1984) won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. Hilali Noordeen is the only living former Sri Lankan President of the Oxford Union (1983) (the other two former Presidents Lalith Athulathmudali and Lakshman Kadirgamar were assassinated).

Pakistani journalist and media professional Laaleen Sukera’s latest project ‘Austenistan’, is a Jane Austen inspired anthology set in Pakistani society and will be published by Bloomsbury. Sri Lankan authors will include Nayomi Munaweera whose book ‘What Lies Between Us’ won the Best English Novel at the State Literary Awards 2017, Ashok Ferrey, Channa Daswatte, Vivimarie VanderPoorten and Charulatha Abeysekara among others.

Over the years, the Fairway Galle Literary Festival has created a special identity for itself based on content, diversity, organisation and its unique location. The Festival is set in and around the Dutch Galle Fort, originally a 16th centuryPortuguese Fort but captured by the Dutch in the 17th century.

Located on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, this UNESCO heritage site comprises cobblestone passageways, ramparts in old grey stone, 14 bastions, a mesmerising view of the Indian Ocean and the Galle Harbour, a Peace Pagoda across the bay, a lighthouse, many churches, beautiful colonial architecture, cafes, hotels and open courtyards.

The Festival aims to engage people in intellectual discussion, animated debates and intimate conversations, while searching to express and learn something new. It hopes to inspire and motivate those who participate through interaction between artistes and audiences.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)