Eezham Tamils among HR defenders shortlisted for Amnesty NZ award
[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 May 2013, 00:56 GMT]
Two Eezham Tamils were among the six human rights defenders shortlisted for periodical award by the New Zealand chapter of the Amnesty International this year. Mr. A. Theva Rajan was placed next to the main award winner and Dr. Nagalingam Rasalingam was one of the six finalists. This is the first time Eezham Tamils have been recognized for the consideration of the Defender of Human Rights Award by Amnesty NZ, Eezham Tamil news sources in New Zealand said. 79-year-old Mr A. Theva Rajan was earlier awarded Queens Service Medal in 2011, in specific recognition of his services to the Tamil community in New Zealand.
Lal Medawattegedera Is The Winner Of The 2012 Gratiaen Prize
May 5, 2013 |
The Gratiaen Prize for the best work of creative writing in English was awarded to Lal Medawattegedera for his unpublished novel Playing Pillow Politics at MGK on 04 May 2013 at Park Street Mews, Colombo. This year’s winner emerged from a tight contest from a strong shortlist lineup which included poetry, prose and drama. Commenting on the judging process, chairman of the judging panel, Jayantha Dhanapala, commended the quality of the submissions and reflected on the difficult task of judging between different genres such as poetry, drama and prose, all of which have differing aesthetic qualities. Dhanapala also commended the Trust for its committed service to the country’s literary culture and Standard Chartered Bank for its commitment to substantive Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.
The Gratiaen Prize for the best work of creative writing in English was awarded to Lal Medawattegedera for his unpublished novel Playing Pillow Politics at MGK on 04 May 2013 at Park Street Mews, Colombo. This year’s winner emerged from a tight contest from a strong shortlist lineup which included poetry, prose and drama. Commenting on the judging process, chairman of the judging panel, Jayantha Dhanapala, commended the quality of the submissions and reflected on the difficult task of judging between different genres such as poetry, drama and prose, all of which have differing aesthetic qualities. Dhanapala also commended the Trust for its committed service to the country’s literary culture and Standard Chartered Bank for its commitment to substantive Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.
Celebrating its twentieth year, this year’s Gratiaen Prize has an unbroken history of rewarding literary excellence in Sri Lanka. Themed around “twenty years of Sri Lankan story telling” this year’s awards ceremony had a retrospective segment commemorating past winners. The current value of the prize is Rs 200,000 and the H A I Goonetileke Prize for Translations which offers the same prize money is awarded every other year. The prize was founded by Michael Ondaatje who was the joint winner of the Booker Prize for his novel The English Patient in 1993. Guided by Ondaatje’s vision of promoting Sri Lankan writing in English through a prize devoted to resident Sri Lankan writers, the Gratiaen Prize has supported, encouraged and rewarded Sri Lanka writing continuously for two decades with a number of Gratiaen winners gaining regional and international critical acclaim and popular success.
Mr Anirvaran Ghosh Dastidar, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, commented, “The bank is very proud of its long affiliation with the award which is now celebrating its 20th year. The prize has successfully provided an impetus to encouraging creative writing in English in the country, and we look forward to seeing even greater enthusiasm as the years progress.”
The judging panel of the 2012 Gratiaen Prize included Jayantha Dhanapala, former career diplomat (chair), Sumathy Sivamohan, academic, writer, dramatist and filmmaker and senior journalist Lyn Ockersz. Speaking on behalf of the judging panel the chairman Jayantha Dhanapala said that the winning entry was an innovative and eclectic mix of realist and allegorical genres which critically reflected on contemporary Sri Lankan society with sustained irony. The other shortlisted works were It’s not in the Stars by Rizvina Morseth de Alwis,Kalumaali by Ruwanthie de Chickera and Nadie Kammallaweera, Open Words are for Love-Letting by Malinda Seneviratne and The Professional by Saroj Sinnetamby.
Previous winners of the Gratiaen Prize include Carl Muller (The Jam Fruit Tree), the late Nihal de Silva (The Road from Elephant Pass), Punyakante Wijenaike (Amulet), the late Tissa Abeysekara (Bringing Tony Home), Vivimarie VanderPoorten (Nothing Prepares You), Shehan Karunatilaka (Chinaman) Prashani Rambukwella (Mythil’s Secret). Named after the first Chair of the Gratiaen Trust and Sri Lanka’s foremost librarian and bibliographer, the HAI Goonetileke Prize includes in its list of winners, Sunethra Rajakarunanayake’s Nandithya translated as The Chameleon by Vijitha Fernando, a collection of Liyanage Amarakeerthi’s short stories translated as The Hour When the Moon Weeps by Kumari Gunesekere, Eva Ranaweera’s Sedona translated by Edmund Jayasuriya and Simon Navagattegama’s Samsaraye Dadayakkaraya translated by Malinda Seneviratne.
