Reprints of ‘Uprooted’ trilogy now available
View(s):Martin Wickramasinghe is one of the country’s literary giants, his works read and reread by successive generations of Sri Lankans. Bringing his work to a wider audience, Sarasa Publishers, the sole licensed publishers of the great writer recently released reprints of the English translations of his ‘Uprooted’ trilogy – ‘Uprooted’ (‘Gamperaliya’) first printed in 2011, ‘The Age of Kali’ (‘Kaliugaya’) first printed in 2013 and ‘Destiny’ 
(‘Yuganthaya’) first printed in 2014.
Founded by the Martin Wickramasinghe Trust in 1994, Sarasa Publishers began printing the author’s works in 2000. Enabling English readers to enjoy the stories centered on Sri Lankan life and even the writer’s works on social sciences, they have previously published translations of ‘Madol Doova’ (‘Mangrove Island’), ‘Sinhala Sahithyaye Negima’ (‘Landmarks of Sinhalese Literature’) and ‘Ape Gama’” (‘Our Village’) apart from this trilogy.
Revolving around the lives of the family members of the “Kaisaruwatte Muhandiram Walauwe” in Koggala, ‘Uprooted’ presents the evolution of cultural systems, family unions and the village against a backdrop of modernisation and social change that took place in the early 20th century. The translation is by Prof. Lakshmi De Silva and Dr. Ranga Wickramasinghe, one of the author’s sons.
The second book, ‘The Age of Kali’ portrays the experiences of three generations and the interactions between them which eventually lead to conflict. Ranga Wickramasinghe collaborated with writer Aditha Dissanayake in this translation which won the award for the best English Translation at the State Literary Awards for 2014.
‘Destiny’ the last book in the trilogy deals with the introduction of the fourth generation of the Kaisaruwatte family to their rustic origins which they had completely isolated themselves from. Ranga Wickramasinghe teamed up Deenesha Wickramasinghe, an English teacher to translate this work.
Attractively presented, the ‘Uprooted’ trilogy is now available in bookshops.