EWC celebrates a host a creative writers
View(s):In the nearly 30 years of its existence, the journal Channels has showcased some of the finest writing in English to come out of Sri Lanka. At a recent reading held in in the hall of the Goethe Institute by the English Writers Cooperative of Sri Lanka (EWC), the audience was treated to excerpts from the prose and poetry that had been published in the journal, with Nimal Mendis on the piano providing lovely musical interludes between readings.
Nimal Mendis: Providing the musical interludes between the readings
The introduction came from EWC’s current chairperson, the award winning author and translator Vijita Fernando. Readers Lucky de Chickera, Faith Rathnayake, Simon Senaratna, Myrle Williams and Anthea Senaratna brought to life the poetry of a whole host of Sri Lankan literary luminaries, including excerpts from the work of Jean Arasanayagam, Yasmine Gooneratne, Vivimarie Vander Poorten, Ramya Chamalie Jeerasinghe, Ashley Halpe, Richard de Zoysa, Carl Muller, Punyakante Wijenaike, Jehan Aloysius, Anne Ranasinghe, Regi Siriwardena, Tissa Abeysekera and Vijita Fernando herself.
The evening began with Kamala Wijerane’s poem ‘On the Death of a Cousin,’ followed by Alfreda De Silva’s ruminative, lyrical piece titled ‘In the Mirror’. It ended with a well paired set of poems from Sakuntala Sachithanandan and Ayathurai Santhan. In the middle were a selection of pieces that celebrated both life’s big concerns – birth, death and love – and its little pleasures. Maureen Seneviratne meditated on ‘Traps of Time’, we heard excerpts from Manel Ratnatuga’s ‘Letter of Credit’, Mariam Riza’s ‘Seven Billion Children’ and Lucky De Chickera’s ‘Sarasu – Amidst Slums of Terror’. Eva Ranaweera, Premini Amerasinghe, Rajiva Wijesinha, Eileen Siriwardhana, Sita Kulatunga, Basil Fernando, Chitra Premaratne Stuiver, Shireen Senadhira, Jayani Senanayake and Fahima Sahabdeen were also among the many talented writers whose pieces were read out.
Founded by Anne Ranasinghe, Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha and Maureen Seneviratne in 1989, the English Writers’ Cooperative of Sri Lanka (EWC) has long been known as forum that welcomes both established and aspiring writers, providing them with a space to read their work and receive support and feedback. EWC’s annual competitions that award prizes in the short story and poetry categories regularly unearth new talent, all of which are then published in Channels. After skipping the 2011 issue, the 2012 edition of the journal was a double issue, carrying the winners’ entries for both years.
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