Bringing back GLF after four-year hiatus
Yomal Senerath-Yapa talks to Giselle Harding, the festival’s new director of her vision
Galle beckons again – at long last! To enjoy the sunny Dutch fort buzzing with all the world and his favourite book; to hop from an exciting culinary event to a poetry reading or a historical talk; or just stroll down the crowded cobblestoned streets and ramparts of a wilting dusk, friends in tow and autographed books in hand…
As the South coast gets warm on the map, Giselle Harding, the new director of the Galle Literary Festival (GLF), is busy. She brings to her role years of working as an event organiser and experience of running an independent bookshop-cafe in Unawatuna called Wild and the Sage.
While hers is not a wholly literary background, it is obvious that Giselle has the acumen to manoeuvre through the leviathan task of putting together one of Asia’s best-loved literary festivals, returning after a four-year hiatus.
The feathers Giselle wears in her cap as an organiser include the first European Olympics in 2015 in Baku, village fairs and fashion shows in England, a large European Union Festival and several government shows and events in Dubai.
A Briton, she has lived in London, Baku in Azerbaijan, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Jeddah.
Married to Sri Lankan Joseph ‘Joe’ de Alwis, they now run what was ‘always a dream’ – a small community business. “When we moved here we found it hard to find a really well-curated selection of English language books. Most bookshops feature the international bestsellers, or the classics taught at school. We were looking for the unusual reads, the recommended titles and so, we decided to open a bookshop!”
Giselle has found no rust in the GLF machinery despite the hiatus. While the festival has grown organically over the past two decades, its format has remained the same, though it will be on a smaller scale this year than the last few editions.
“We are very much keeping to that format; we’ve got the art trail; we’ve got the children’s festival; the university outreach programme and the children’s outreach programme…”
This year’s ‘hot hot’ unveiling will be Gourmet Galle, featuring 12 international chefs, with pop-up dinners happening over the South coast over 12 weeks under the festival umbrella – from January to March.
“Our ambassadors are our authors,” says Giselle. International authors spread by word of mouth “how wonderful the festival is” and Sri Lankan authors too. “Ameena Hussein spoke a lot about us while in Lahore last year and she’s put us in touch with a lot of authors from that network.
“The line-up this year has been really carefully thought about and curated; we have got a really diverse selection of authors and talks. A lot went into the content of the talks. I think for anyone
‘on the fence’ about visiting or not sure, it’s worth taking a risk and coming down just to see what it is and see what we are about.
“And I really think the audience should book early because accommodation will be snapped up early and tickets will sell fast...”
Amongst the new faces at GLF 2024 will be food writer Tom Parker Bowles (son of Britain’s Queen Camilla), the celebrated British historian Simon Schama and philosopher and author A.C. Grayling, alongside returning favourites like Anthony Horowitz, Alexander McCall Smith and Sebastian Faulks.
Our own Shehan Karunathilaka, on whose brow the 2022 Booker laurels sit light, will of course be a central figure.
While the climate challenges and the financial crisis did furrow Giselle’s brow, she was relieved to have plenty of support as the festival is seen as a boost for tourism and the country’s economy.
The Galle Festivals Guarantee Ltd, under which GLF is registered, is passionate about including more and more other cultural disciplines. “We would love to develop the art trail to be its own festival; and we are playing around with a couple of film screenings.”
“We have got some authors who have worked in the discipline of dance and performance arts; and there will be various theatre performances all through the programme… We are trying out all these things to see just how they are received, with a vision to see them grow organically, and see what works and build a network of festivals – a celebration of all aspects of culture.”
The Sinhala Day and the sojourn to Jaffna will not happen this year. While the smaller scale does not permit it Giselle feels that vernacular writing might “get diluted by coming under the umbrella of an English language festival.”
“They deserve their own festivals, to be honest,” something they may look into in the future, Giselle says.