A lot of lit and a bit of this and that
It seemed to be the perfect weather for walking around the Galle Fort – not too sunny but just cloudy enough to allay the scorching January heat as the second day of the Fairway Galle Literary Festival unfolded. Festival-goers strolled around the narrow lanes of the Galle Fort, looking for their next session, but seemed to be in no hurry as they happily milled about – pausing to take pictures of the colonial buildings, while others lingered outside the Hall de Galle eating, drinking, talking and of course, reading.
The only people in a hurry were the volunteers, who ran from place to place guiding lost festival-goers to the multiple venues where different events were taking place, checking tickets and making sure that the festival functioned smoothly. Melissa Dunuwila, a first time volunteer described the experience as amazing, because although it was hard work, it was fun too.
The keen festival-goers apart, the FGLF was attracting many tourists. Nadisha and Natasha Senesinghe, Sri Lankans living in Australia felt that the festival was a great experience for them and were intrigued to note the number of Australians present at the event.
The Galle Fort is well known for its diverse restaurants but for festival-goers looking for a quick bite the food stalls set up outside the Hall de Galle offered an interesting array of cuisine, although the prices were rather steep. With aerated water being sold at four times the retail price, and most snacks being around Rs. 500, it’s not difficult to understand why the event has earned a reputation being elitist. A free Lipton tea stall offered some relief, as did the hotdogs and burgers sold at Rs. 200 right next to it.
Drawing the crowd was the hopper stall. At Rs. 300 each – with a wide selection of conventional and unconventional curries and fillings (think pomegranate, curd, cashewnuts, brinjal) piled high inside the hopper, this was a great success among tourists, though locals seemed wary of buying a hopper at ten times the regular price.
Enhancing the festival goers’ experience was the music. The Music Project, an initiative that teaches children in Kurunegala and Mullaitivu music as a unifying and enriching experience presented a series of performances outside the Hall de Galle. Following their act were a series of singers and musicians who performed throughout the day, making the mood very relaxed –perfect to sit under a tree and read a book, as many people did. The Soul Sounds concert in the evening with live illustrations by German graphic artist Reinhard Kleist was lively and enjoyable, with everyone paying close attention to the projection of Kleist’s real time drawings which were themed around the performance.
Festival-goers the Sunday Times spoke to on Thursday seemed happy with the 2017 edition of FGLF though a few expressed disappointment that writers such as Margaret Drabble billed as one of the headliners this year was unable to attend the festival. Samia Cader, who has been coming every year feels that the festival this year was very good, although she was rather disappointed that three of the scheduled writers were unable to attend. Milhana Peris from London, has been to the festival before and felt that even though there weren’t as many famous authors as before, it promised to be an interesting experience nonetheless.
John Gimlette autographs a book
Catherine Bush
Peter Frankopan: Asian history far more interesting than European
A section of the crowd at one of the sessions. Pix by Indika Handuwala
Nayomi Munaweera and Ashok Ferrey talk about their new books, while Festival Curator Shyam Selvadurai moderates their session
Hoppers that were too hot to handle; pricewise
A Soul Sounds performance that was given additional colour by graphic artist Reinhard Kleist (below) .
A peek at some sessions  Teresa Church Sessions on Day Two ( Thursday, January 12) saw a vibrant range of writers who spoke of everything from lions in Africa to the ‘swinging sixties’ in London. Here are glimpses of some of the sessions and fringe events. Nayomi Munaweera and Ashok Ferrey Nayomi Munaweera and Ashok Ferrey discussed their new books ‘What lies between us’ and ‘The Ceaseless Chatter of Dreams’ respectively and offered readers insights into their creative process. When asked about tackling topics which are somewhat taboo in Sri Lanka such as sex, Nayomi gave the example of a Pakistani writer whose mother had disowned her after her book was published. “You have to learn really early on to stop letting it hold you back,” she said. Ashok Ferrey, when asked about an erring character in his book replied that the character reminded him of himself because human beings constantly back track and make mistakes. “But I feel so sorry for that character,” an audience member insisted. “Well sometimes, I feel sorry for myself,” Ferrey replied. Julia Semma, who lives in London, felt that Nayomi and Ashok’s session was interesting. Having been to London readings before, she feels that the atmosphere of the Fairway Galle Literary Festival is a lot more vibrant. “It’s clear that the organizers have put in a lot of effort because this is more of a cultural event than just a series of readings,” she said. Brigid Keenan Brigid Keenan, author of ‘Packing up’ and ‘Full marks for trying’ enthralled audiences with humorous anecdotes from her life, explaining for instance the differences in pronunciation which made for interesting misunderstandings. “Once I asked a waiter about pirates in Sri Lanka and he said that there were pirates down at the beach and I kept wondering what he meant until I realized that he meant that there were parrots at the beach,” she said. Premala De Mel, who has been coming for the festival almost every year said, “I found Brigid Keenan absolutely fascinating. She has a real sense of humour,” she said. Peter Frankopan Peter Frankopan, author of ‘The Silk Roads: A new history of the world’ spoke of the fascinating history of Asia which he writes about, explaining that he always felt that Asia was more interesting than Europe. “It’s really interesting to see fake Sri Lankan coins made to look like Indian coins which in turn have been made to look like Roman coins,” he said, explaining the Roman influence in Eastern affairs. He also stated that he felt the concept of globalization is incorrectly considered to be a modern phenomenon, because in his opinion global influence has affected people for centuries, although perhaps the speed of travel has perhaps increased over the years. To him, the boring history he was taught in school is not representative of the wide and varied lifestyles, ideals and events of the past. Londoner Teresa Church who has been visiting Sri Lanka since 1986 and is very interested in the events which take place in the island, having been to Peter Frankopan’s readings in Oxford, had come to the festival to see him again in Sri Lanka. She felt the festival line-up was excellent and added that the free music added to the ambience of the event. She was bitterly disappointed, however in the way tickets were sold through the tickets.lk office in Colombo, she said. John Gimlette John Gimlette, author of ‘Travels in Sri Lanka’ regaled a captive audience with his funny, moving and intriguing journey through Sri Lanka. Rechristening toddy as ‘slightly alcoholic dishwater’, he called Sri Lankans the most generous people in the world and explained his observances of the war in Sri Lanka, noting that the island had indeed suffered much during and as a result of the war. He recalled interviewing an LTTE supporter who had fought for the LTTE and asking if he felt it was worth it. “We knew this would be the outcome of the war but still we had to fight it because of fate,” the man had replied, making Gimlette reflect on the idea of fate, something he considers to be an alien concept for the modern Westerner. However, not all was grim. He recalled a Veddha dance during which he was violently sick and the Veddhas, having never experienced such a reaction to their dancing, kept on going. The audience was clearly entertained. Shruti Patel, who lives in Abu Dhabi said, she found his talk very insightful. Catherine Bush and Anjan Sundaram  Anuk Arudpragasam: Wrote his book for him self Catherine Bush and Anjan Sundaram, authors of ‘A reporter’s journey in the Congo’ and ‘Stringer’ respectively had a detailed discussion of their experiences in Africa. Sundaram felt that what was most important for people who have experienced suffering in Africa is that people are aware of their plight.Taking part in the festival for the first time, Sundaram commented that the ambience of the event was great, people ask interesting questions and the volunteers were very helpful. He found the location very interesting as well, which added to the event overall, he said. “I thought they have a very varied selection of authors from a geographical, stylistic and narrative standpoint,” Azima Moiz, who lives in Singapore said, adding that she found Anjan Sundaram’s prose very direct, which helped her relate to his methodology of writing. Anuk Arudpragasam Anuk Arudpragasam, author of ‘The story of a brief marriage’ described the reasoning behind his writing, explaining that he wrote his book for himself. The book was an attempt to understand the suffering of people in Sri Lanka during the war rather than provide an authoritative viewpoint of the events, he said. On Thursday evening, there was art on show as Leo Burnett Sri Lanka opened the eighth edition of ‘Leo Art’, the agency’s in-residence art programme for local artists at the Fort Printer’s Hotel.Nayomi Munaweera read from her latest book “What lies between us”.
 Nayomi Munaweera reads from her latest book at the opening of ‘Leo Art’  Shruti Patel |