Fairway National Literary Awards tomorrow

The Fairway National Literary Awards (FNLA) 2018 will be held on December 3 in Colombo. This awards ceremony is hosted by Fairway Holdings, one of the leading conglomerates in Sri Lanka, for the fourth consecutive year, in its continuous bid to encourage and promote excellent creative writing in all three languages; Sinhala, Tamil and English.

Launched as a fringe event for the Fairway Galle Literary Festival in 2015, when the company took over the title sponsorship of the biggest literary festival in the country, FNLA has seen the emergence of some of the best creative writers in Sri Lanka. The main objective of FNLA is to provide opportunities to talented local authors so that they can achieve islandwide recognition.

The significant cash prizes as well as the due recognition given to both the writers and publishers have made the Fairway National Literary Awards one of the most highly anticipated events in the literary calendar of Sri Lanka.

Over 120 books were submitted for this year’s competition. The shortlist was announced on August 30 with five novels in the Sinhala category, five in the Tamil category and four in the English category being shortlisted for the final award.

This year’s contenders for FNLA are;

Sinhala:

Aththani Kanu by Sepali Mayadunna, Warana by Padmini Senevirathne, Tharu Visula Raya by Aruna Premarathne, Deshadrohiyage Nirmala Hardaya by Tharangani Resika Fernando and Balawa Kandulu Gini Gani! by P. B. Jayasekara

Tamil:

Kattupol by Pramila Pradeepan, Thottu Ponavarkal by Fernando Seeman Pathinathan, Irattak Kuliyal by Musdeen, Idipadum Koddaikal by Nawayanee Yohendranathan and Panichaiadi Munmaariyum Sattakkinarum by A. M. S. Velalaganz

English:

Rao’s Guide to Lime Pickling by Sandali Handagama, The Chameleon by Seheni Hisara Kariyawasan, Stories by Charulatha Abeysekara Thewarathanthri and Zeelam by Navin Weeraratne Professor J. B. Disanayaka will be the Chief Guest at the ceremony.