A peek at some sessions
Sessions on Day Two ( Thursday, January 12) saw a vibrant range of writers who spoke of everything from lions in Africa to the ‘swinging sixties’ in London. Here are glimpses of some of the sessions and fringe events.
Nayomi Munaweera and Ashok Ferrey
Nayomi Munaweera and Ashok Ferrey discussed their new books ‘ What lies between us’ and ‘ The Ceaseless Chatter of Dreams’ respectively and offered readers insights into their creative process. When asked about tackling topics which are somewhat taboo in Sri Lanka such as sex, Nayomi gave the example of a Pakistani writer whose mother had disowned her after her book was published. “You have to learn really early on to stop letting it hold you back,” she said.
Ashok Ferrey, when asked about an erring character in his book replied that the character reminded him of himself because human beings constantly back track and make mistakes. “But I feel so sorry for that character,” an audience member insisted. “Well sometimes, I feel sorry for myself,” Ferrey replied.
Julia Semma, who lives in London, felt that Nayomi and Ashok’s session was interesting. Having been to London readings before, she feels that the atmosphere of the Fairway Galle Literary Festival is a lot more vibrant. “It’s clear that the organizers have put in a lot of effort because this is more of a cultural event than just a series of readings,” she said.
Brigid Keenan
Brigid Keenan, author of ‘Packing up’ and ‘Full marks for trying’ enthralled audiences with humorous anecdotes from her life, explaining for instance the differences in pronunciation which made for interesting misunderstandings. “Once I asked a waiter about pirates in Sri Lanka and he said that there were pirates down at the beach and I kept wondering what he meant until I realized that he meant that there were parrots at the beach,” she said.
Premala De Mel, who has been coming for the festival almost every year said, “I found Brigid Keenan absolutely fascinating. She has a real sense of humour,” she said.
Peter Frankopan
Peter Frankopan, author of ‘ The Silk Roads: A new history of the world’ spoke of the fascinating history of Asia which he writes about, explaining that he always felt that Asia was more interesting than Europe. “It’s really interesting to see fake Sri Lankan coins made to look like Indian coins which in turn have been made to look like Roman coins,” he said, explaining the Roman influence in Eastern affairs. He also stated that he felt the concept of globalization is incorrectly considered to be a modern phenomenon, because in his opinion global influence has affected people for centuries, although perhaps the speed of travel has perhaps increased over the years. To him, the boring history he was taught in school is not representative of the wide and varied lifestyles, ideals and events of the past.
Londoner Teresa Church who has been visiting Sri Lanka since 1986 and is very interested in the events which take place in the island, having been to Peter Frankopan’s readings in Oxford, had come to the festival to see him again in Sri Lanka. She felt the festival line-up was excellent and added that the free music added to the ambience of the event. She was bitterly disappointed, however in the way tickets were sold through the tickets.lk office in Colombo, she said.
John Gimlette
John Gimlette, author of ‘ Travels in Sri Lanka’ regaled a captive audience with his funny, moving and intriguing journey through Sri Lanka. Rechristening toddy as ‘slightly alcoholic dishwater’, he called Sri Lankans the most generous people in the world and explained his observances of the war in Sri Lanka, noting that the island had indeed suffered much during and as a result of the war. He recalled interviewing an LTTE supporter who had fought for the LTTE and asking if he felt it was worth it. “We knew this would be the outcome of the war but still we had to fight it because of fate,” the man had replied, making Gimlette reflect on the idea of fate, something he considers to be an alien concept for the modern Westerner.
However, not all was grim. He recalled a Veddha dance during which he was violently sick and the Veddhas, having never experienced such a reaction to their dancing, kept on going. The audience was clearly entertained. “I thought John Gimlette would be like a normal white guy writing about his experiences,” Shruti Patel, who lives in Abu Dhabi said, adding that she found his talk very insightful.
Catherine Bush and Anjan Sundaram
Catherine Bush and Anjan Sundaram, authors of ‘A reporter’s journey in the Congo’ and ‘Stringer’ respectively had a detailed discussion of their experiences in Africa. Sundaram felt that what was most important for people who have experienced suffering in Africa is that people are aware of their plight.Taking part in the festival for the first time, Sundaram commented that the ambience of the event was great, people ask interesting questions and the volunteers were very helpful. He found the location very interesting as well, which added to the event overall, he said.
“I thought they have a very varied selection of authors from a geographical, stylistic and narrative standpoint,” Azima Moiz, who lives in Singapore said, adding that she found Anjan Sundaram’s prose very direct, which helped her relate to his methodology of writing.
Anuk Arudpragasam
Anuk Arudpragasam, author of ‘ The story of a brief marriage’ described the reasoning behind his writing, explaining that he wrote his book for himself. The book was an attempt to understand the suffering of people in Sri Lanka during the war rather than provide an authoritative viewpoint of the events, he said.
On Thursday evening, there was art on show as Leo Burnett Sri Lanka opened the eighth edition of ‘Leo Art’, the agency’s in-residence art programme for local artists at the Fort Printer’s Hotel.Nayomi Munaweera read from her latest book “What lies between us”.