Literature for national integration
The 59th Sri Lanka Literary Awards – the premier literary event of Sri Lanka held last Thursday at the BMICH, saw a positive movement of national integration through literature with a greater participation of significant numbers of Tamil literati.
Twenty six nominees were listed for the highest national awards in Tamil literature with 11 out of them emerging as winners. The increasing numbers of writers show prolific literary activity in Tamil literature gathering momentum. The nominated numbers of Tamil writers were much less in the last year.
Chief Guest President Maithripala Sirisena who at the last Sri Lanka Literary Awards requested Tamil writers to help bring about reconciliation using the pen, reiterated his call this year. The President in his message stated that literature helps to discard racial conflicts and religious extremism and cure the minds of those who are sick due to such destructive ideas. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe assured in his message that the stage is now set for better literary pursuits to be undertaken in a manner that stimulates greater social engagements.
The Sri Lanka Literary Awards which covered children, youth and adult literature in its 42 categories in Sinhala, Tamil and English, is the only event which represents creative writers of the Lankan literary tapestry. Monks, diplomats, professors, men, women, the young as well as the old and the feeble, the affluent and not so affluent were either winners, nominees or inspired spectators applauding those who enrich literature.
The Sri Lanka Literary Awards Ceremony was organised by the Department of Cultural Affairs and according to Jayasumana Dissanayake, Chairman of the State Advisory Board for Literature,the organisers this year in order to select the winners, obtained books published last year from the National Archives. They were not confined to those submitted by authors as in the past.
The President gave away Awards for the Best Novels in Sinhala, Tamil and English respectively to Niragi Seneviratne (DulwalaAlankare,) Sivalingam Aruran (Yalisai) and Rizvina de Alwis( It’s not in the Stars.)
The highlight was the awarding of the highest lifetime award “Sahithyaratna” by the President to Professor Emeritus Merlin Peris, Professor of Western Classics for his contribution to both Sinhala and English literature, Pandit Siri Thilakasiri- a prolific writer of books of literary value for his contribution to Sinhala Literature and Bishop Rev. Subramaniam Jebanesan – a Doctor of Philosophy from Jaffna, for enriching Tamil literature.