Jean leads the way in an evening of poetry and music by EWC
Jean Arasanayagam was her “effervescent self, full of ideas popping out, and words that kept bubbling over in a never ending stream....” -- to quote EWC chairperson Premini Amerasinghe who later introduced her-- as she walked into the ICES auditorium on December 3, heartily greeting those who had arrived already for an evening of prose, poetry and music presented by the EWC (English Writers Collective).
As the evening’s presenter Merle Williams said, the special feature of the evening, in addition to giving a platform for EWC poetry and short story competition winners to read from their work and receive certificates; was the felicitation of well known writer Jean Arasanayagam, the winner of the 2017 Gratiaen Prize.
Jean started off the evening in her inimitable style relating anecdotes and reading from some of her work that captured a wide canvas of experiences.
This was followed by a short musical interlude by Sureka Amerasinghe who played four pieces ranging from Bach to jazz improvisation on the flute.
The next segment comprised readings of the prize winning entries, either by the authors themselves or by readers and the presentation of certificates. The winning entries included: Short stories-- ‘Adam’ by Dr. Hasitha Fernando; ‘Mother Universal’ by Hasitha Wickremasinghe; ‘Clockwork’ by Gayan Dissanayake; and ‘Two Funerals’ by Rachel Mendis and poems-- ‘Empty’ by Shehara De Silva; ‘Final Remembrance’ by Piyumi B. Navaratnam and ‘The Soil’ by Balayogini Jeyakrishnan.
This was followed by the readings of the EWC members.
As Nanda Wanasundera said in her vote of thanks, the event gave the audience a chance to enjoy a delightful evening of creativity away from the political uncertainty prevailing in the country.