International Authors Boycott Galle Literary Festival

• Among many other attacks on the freedom of expression
• Festival participants take a stand on the disappearance of cartoonist Prageeth
  Ekneligoda and the unsolved murder of The Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge

By Raisa Wickrematunge

Shyam Selvadurai

The Galle Literary Festival hit another low when Damon Galgut, an award-winning South African playwright and novelist also decided to pull out after arriving in Sri Lanka to attend the festival, based on an appeal by two media rights organisations, Reporters Without Borders and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), calling for writers to boycott the festival in the backdrop of serious freedom of expression issues in the country and attacks on journalists.
Galgut followed Nobel prizewinning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, and Man Booker Prize winner Kiran Desai when they too cancelled their appearances amidst rumours of external pressure. Curator of the Galle Literary Festival, Shyam Selvadurai  himself an author whose first novel, Funny Boy, established him as a new talent capable of earning a place next to some of his more well-known expatriates spoke to The Sunday Leader about the issue.
Excerpts:

Lasantha Wickrematunge and Prageeth Ekneligoda

Q: Damon Galgut pulled out of the festival last week. What are your comments on the issue, and is it true he did so because of the RSF petition?
A: Yes, Damon Galgut pulled out because of the RSF release. I respect his right to have an opinion. I’m not saying that I disagree with what RSF says, but I disagree with the method of using the festival as a platform to voice disapproval. Galgut writes beautifully on Apartheid South Africa. So it is a loss and I am sad about it. There will be a void left by what he could have contributed.Full Story>>>