Gratiaen Prize 2019 long list announced

The Gratiaen Trust this week announced the long list for the Gratiaen Prize 2019. The authors (surnames in alphabetical order) and the titles of their work are:

Ruchini Abayakoon - Dartboard Photographs

Nadishka Aloysius - Raavana’s Daughter

Shashikala Assella - (In) Consequential Musings

Andrew Fidel Fernando - Upon a Sleepless Isle

Praveen Jayamanna - The Double Doorway

Upali Mahaliyana - Tom-Tom Boy

Vihanga Perera - Sentimental Pieces et al

The judges for the Gratiaen Prize this year are Prof. Minoli Salgado (chair), creative writer and Professor of International Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK; Tara Coomaraswamy, who has degrees from the Universities of Cambridge and Sussex and is an avid reader with a keen interest in the arts; and Jake Oorloff, a wellknown theatre practitioner based in Sri Lanka and co-founder of the theatre company Floating Space.

The Gratiaen Prize, founded in 1993 by the Sri Lankan-born author Michael Ondaatje with his Booker Prize money for his novel The English Patient, is now in its 27th continuous year and remains one of the most coveted prizes for creative writing in Sri Lanka. The Trust, in association with John Keells Foundation and the Wijeya Group as its media partner, is very pleased to announce a longlist for the second year in a row.

The Gratiaen Prize 2019 shortlist event scheduled for April 6, 2020 at the British Council, Colombo has been postponed due to the current public health situation. New dates for the short list event as well as the main award will be announced as soon as feasible.