Island of a Thousand Mirrors shortlisted for Commonwealth Book Prize
View(s):Nayomi Munaweera’s Island of a Thousand Mirrors published by the Perera Hussein Publishing House has been shortlisted for the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize announced by the Commonwealth Foundation recently.
The Commonwealth Book Prize is awarded for the best first novels. Encompassing a span of 54 countries, the entries are judged within the five regions of Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific, each of which will produce a regional winner for the two prizes. These will be announced on May 14. The overall winners will be announced at the Hay Festival on May 31. Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatileka’s Chinaman was the most recent winner of the prize in 2012.
Island of a Thousand Mirrors tells the moving tale of two girls whose lives intersect in the most brutal way. Yashodara a young Sinhalese girl who emigrates to the US after the 1983 riots and Saraswathie who dreams of becoming a teacher in the village school, see their lives shattered by the civil war that threatens to tear Sri Lanka apart.
Long listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize earlier this year and with an Indian edition already published by Hachette, India and a USA edition planned by St Martin’s Press, Island of a Thousand Mirrors places Sri Lankan writing squarely on the international literary map.
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus