Amira Cader: “Diverse voices and compelling storytelling define this year’s finalists [for the GRATIAEN PRIZE]” ** … DAILY MIRROR
The Gratiaen Trust, in partnership with the John Keells Foundation and with the support of the British Council announced the shortlist for the 33rd Gratiaen Prize, underscoring the continued vitality of Sri Lanka’s English literary scene at the British Council Colombo last week.
The winner of the 33rd Gratiaen Prize will be announced on 6 June 2026, at a ceremony celebrating the country’s literary talent and cultural expression.
The five works shortlisted for this year’s Gratiaen Prize reflect a striking diversity of genre, voice and thematic depth, underscoring the evolving landscape of Sri Lankan writing in English.
Aneesha Ansar’s Daham’ offers a bold and sharply satirical take on contemporary life. Through the “(un)adventures” of its central character, Daham, Ansar explores workplace pressures, social expectations and the quiet inertia that can shape modern existence. Her unapologetic narrative voice and wit have been praised by the judges for delivering both humour and a pointed critique of morality.
Alan de Costa’s ‘Dear Father; The Refugee’ moves across time and geography, weaving together the story of a 17th-century Portuguese painter with that of a present-day refugee in Australia. The novel shifts between the fall of the Portuguese Fort in Galle in 1640 and the 1971 Marxist uprising in Ceylon, offering a layered exploration of displacement, art and familial bonds.
Anuththara Ekeli’s ‘God, Bangles and a Constitution’ brings poetry into the spotlight with a collection that challenges conventional forms and ideas. Drawing on her background in law and international relations, Ekeli interrogates power, identity and lived experience in Sri Lanka, navigating themes of devotion, doubt and intimacy with deliberate intensity.
Uvini Atukorala’s ‘In the Curve of the Smile’ presents a lyrical and emotionally resonant narrative centred on family and memory. Set during the turbulent late 1980s, the novel follows a young girl raised by her grandmother, capturing the enduring bonds between mothers, daughters and sisters while situating personal histories within broader national upheaval.
Rounding out the shortlist is ‘The Son and the Lover’ by Visakesa Chandrasekaram, a previous Gratiaen Prize winner. The novel explores themes of desire, tradition, and societal expectation through an unconventional relationship that begins amid anti-Muslim tensions in Sri Lanka and unfolds in Australia, challenging perceptions of identity and acceptance.
Together, these five works illustrate not only the richness of storytelling in Sri Lanka but also the willingness of contemporary writers to experiment with form and engage deeply with both personal and political realities.
The longlisted titles were ‘@#$%!Daham’ by Aneesha Ansar, ‘Chameleon Silva’ by Keith Jayasekera, ‘Dear Father: The Refugee’ by Alan de Costa, ‘Divergent Among My Neurons’ by Gaveen Prabhasara,’Gallivanting’ by Ciara Mandulee Mendis, ‘God, Bangles and a Constitution’ by Anuththara Ekeli, ‘In the Curve of the Smile’ by Uvini Atukorala, ‘Reading Palms: A Collection of Poems’ by Oshanthaka Cabraal, ‘The Department of Chosen Ones’ by Thisuri Wanniarachchi, ‘The Son and the Lover’ by Visakesa Chandrasekaram, ‘Time is a Paper Crane and Other Stories’ by Eshana Ranasinghe, and ‘To Hear You Breathe’ by Sajla Anees.
The British Council in Sri Lanka Country Director Orlando Edwards highlighted the institution’s enduring relationship with the prize.
“It is truly a pleasure to welcome you all once again to the British Council Library. For us, this is not just another event—it has become a family tradition,” he said.
Edwards noted that the British Council has supported the prize since 1993, adding that it was originally inaugurated on the very grounds of the British Council by Michael Ondaatje.
“This building has been at the heart of the Gratiaen journey for over three decades,” he remarked.
He further highlighted the prize’s strong track record in identifying emerging literary talent early.
“The Gratiaen Prize has an extraordinary ability to recognise writers at an early stage, only to be proven right years later. Many past winners have gone on to sustained publishing careers, academic leadership and public intellectual life—and in one instance, even a Booker Prize,”
The Gratiaen Trust Chairperson Dr. Saravanamuttu, underscored the prize’s continued relevance in nurturing literary voices.
He noted that the Gratiaen Prize has evolved into a key platform for recognising diverse and original voices in English writing, reflecting Sri Lanka’s complex cultural and social landscape.
“The strength of the Gratiaen lies in its commitment to celebrating originality, courage and craft adding that the prize continues to foster a vibrant and inclusive literary community.”
The judging panel is chaired by V. V. Ganeshananthan, whose novel ‘Brotherless Night’ won the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Carol Shields Prize. She is joined by Elon University Assistant Professor of English Dinidu Karunanayake and ARTRA Magazine Editor-in-Chief Azara Jaleel.
Ganeshananthan remarked it has been an honour to engage with such ambitious and powerful literature. The shortlisted works demonstrate a mastery of craft and a diversity of voice that is truly exhilarating.
These writers explore themes that are both deeply personal and globally relevant, affirming the strength of Sri Lankan writing in English She further noted.
John Keells Holdings PLC Head of CSR and Senior Assistant Vice President Carmeline Jayasuriya reaffirmed the Foundation’s commitment to supporting the arts.
“We are proud to champion a platform that celebrates our unique diversity for the past seven years. These works highlight the power of storytelling in shaping culture and identity, and we look forward to honouring these exceptional voices at the final ceremony,” she noted.
Established in 1992 by Michael Ondaatje using proceeds from his Booker Prize-winning novel ‘The English Patient’, the Gratiaen Prize remains Sri Lanka’s most prestigious award for English creative writing.
The Trust also acknowledged the continued support of its long-standing partners, including the British Council, Wijeya Newspapers and the Marga Institute, whose contributions sustain this important literary tradition.
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AN EDITORIAL NOTE From THUPPAHIYA, May 2026
In its Editorial “wisdom” THE ISLAND newspaper has perfected a system which denies ordinary mortals the capacity to borrow items from its digital presentations -unless theyare whiz-kids. Such copying is essential if anyone wishes to ‘borrow and place’a news items on web in piecemeal fashion. The presentation here is from the Daily Mirror and was sent to me by my old Aloysian mate, KK de Silva.
I believe this is actually a press release from the Gratiaen Trust (a nearly word-for-word version of the same article appeared in the Island), but all the same I feel moved to comment on the way the shortlisted works are described.
The descriptions seem to highlight the sociological and political aspects of the works in question: ‘the workplace pressures, social expectations and the quiet inertia that can shape modern existence’; ‘a layered exploration of displacement’; ‘interrogates power, identity and lived experience in Sri Lanka, navigating themes of devotion, doubt and intimacy’; ‘situating personal histories within broader national upheaval’, ‘challenging perceptions of identity and acceptance.’ They make the works described sound like Ph.D theses, not works of poetry or fiction.
In most countries where English is spoken and written, Britain and the USA included, those who speak and write about literature are usually pretty well educated, with university degrees. Their minds have been trained into academic grooves, and they approach the task of literary criticism (or in this case, literary promotion) as if they’re writing up lecture notes. In doing so, they miss the trees for the wood: their reviews and critical essays are unconcerned with quiddity of the work itself, ignoring components such as plot, characters and style, oblivious to the success and failure of the author’s effects, unable to parse or even descry the artistry of the work. They have only learnt to read in one way – the schoolbook way – and don’t appear to realise that readers of poetry and fiction never think about the works we read in these dry academic terms. But ordinary readers couldn’t care less about text or context. We pick up a book because the story sounds interesting, or perhaps the characters and setting.
As for us unfortunates who actually write for a living or in the service of some dominatrix of a Muse, we don’t think about this academic stuff much when we write; we write to scratch an itch, to tell a story we want to read ourselves, and to make some money. When we’re doing it at the top of our game, we’re never quite sure ourselves what’s going to happen next (or to put it another way, what we’re going to write next) in our poem or story or essay or whatever it is. And we’re even less sure how we’re going to say it. What we’d really like is to have our works reviewed and rewarded on those terms by someone who has done what we are trying to do and judges us on those terms rather than by the height of our brows, our handling of matters better left to doctors or professors, the loftiness of our morals or the correctness of our political views.
The Gratiaen Trust does seem to have chosen a panel that is competent to judge a book on its literary and artistic merits or on its reader appeal, but the artificial, academic selection criteria implied by this article do not inspire much confidence.