“Putting The World To Write” …. in Galle

An INVITATION to a Writing Event with a Title that is Right

Talk, Tea & Book Launch Wednesday January 16th …. 3- 5 pm Jetwing Lighthouse

The first Galle Literary Festival was launched in 2007 amid the chaos of the Civil War. Despite the bitterness of that war, the festival projected the country onto the arts stage as a serious global literary force and attracted many big literary heroes from around the world, which it continues to do, up to this day, where the tenth anniversary is going to be the most exciting festival yet. There is no better location for it to be held in and around the Galle Fort, a UNESCO world heritage site and modern bastion of protection, both physically as in the tsunami of 2004 and ideologically, for all kinds of people from all kinds of religious backgrounds, all working together for the good of the fort, its people and its visitors.

Donald Trump and …

Juliet Coombe, a highly versatile writer who worked on the first Galle Literary Festival and has moved into writing adventurous children’s books since. She will be launching a wonderful second book in the series on January 16^th Donald Trunk, Sri Lanka’s Swimming Elephant’, ominously entitled, ‘Donald Trunk & The Curse of Crabzilla’. Books that combine the life of a very mischievous elephant using experts on wildlife for the entire story line, which she combines in fascinating ways with the islands amazing history. She is a storyteller with a wicked sense of humour and a wish to inspire readers to see the world from different angles by stepping into the shoes of others. Her travels, as a writer passionate about the world, took her to Sri Lanka for two decades, where she lived out a Grimm’s fairytale existence in the ancient Fort City of Galle, a mysterious place full of contradictions and curses, one of which catapulted her back to her childhood homeland in the UK, where she has had to start again, with her two Sri Lankan-British sons. Behind the colourful adventures, there are many important messages and lessons for us all to learn-lessons Juliet learnt the hard way in her quest for honor and fair play for everyone.

To book a ticket email Jetwing Lighthouse or julietcoombe@hotmail.com and be part of two magical hours of different authors revealing the secrets to publishing a successful book. The event includes talks, tea, book launch and fabulous prizes on Wednesday January 16^th at the Jetwing LighthouseEddystone Hall from 3 to 5pm.

At the event you will meet in costume many of the great characters of this second book: Donald, a monkey, a butterfly, and a robber crab amongst others, in different rooms with diverse themes and so much fun to be had all around. The author, Juliet Coombe, will be joining forces with Shiromal Cooray, Jetwing’s Chairman and Managing Director who has also written a fascinating book, A Man in his time, about her father, Herbert Cooray, the inspiration behind Jetwing Hotels and Travels and its rise to the top. She is also joined by Herman Gunaratne, the famous Sri Lankan author of some groundbreaking political books on the tea industry and Sri Lankan government, as well as his autobiographical The Suicide Club (yes, he is still with us, having not fallen for the seduction to take a once-in-a-lifetime offer to join that infamous fatal club!), which relates his highly entertaining rags-to-riches rise through the ranks of the tea industry, and definitely not forgetting his most recent book, God’s Secret Agent, A Battle Against Dark Forces, about the great excitements at all levels of society, caused by the dark side of Sri Lanka. They will also be joined by the highly successful art director for Bench Creative, Monica Lawrie and she will give us an international perspective on publishing.

Juliet, Shiromal, Herman and Monica will talk about their very real experiences regarding the mysteries and great challenges of putting a book together from story conception to getting it out to the multitudes, including how to write, design a book, choose a title, publish, distribute and promote – none of which is a walk in the park but if you have passion you can overcome anything, though you might need a little help from your friends or a witchdoctor, but beware the latter comes at a price and if you change your mind too late, you will also need an exorcist.

In this second visual feast of a book Donald Trunk, the curious Sri Lankan swimming elephant comes face to face with the mutant Crabzilla, a monster he creates quite by accident in his pursuit of worldly treasure. After being driven off Nicobar island in hilarious circumstances by a giant red robber crab, Donald Trunk continues on his mission to find the meaning of life by taking on a serious job in Sri Lanka’s second Kingdom, only to be side-tracked on a different quest to reclaim the elephant treasure he believes has been taken to Europe.

The book is full of more trunk-speak, twists and turns and humorous takes on the confusing modern high tech world we live in, like East-West contrasts, such as Donald being told by butterflies in England that he can only meet a mate on ‘Tuskbook’ and by taking lots of pictures for ‘Flitter’, instead of the old school way of meeting at the watering hole.