Arts
Gayan’s “Follyland” bags first place in Edward Lear Poetry Prize
The Edward Lear Prize for Poetry was held for the third time alongside last week’s Fairway Galle Literary Festival. A tribute to poet Edward Lear, the event was hosted by the Owl and the Pussycat hotel – a hotel named after one of Lear’s most famous poems. Three years ago, the owners of the hotel launched the event with the hope of encouraging young Sri Lankan poets and this year the judges were of the opinion that the number and standard of the entries had grown, thus achieving this goal.
Winner Gayan Perera (centre) with Reita Gadikari and Shane Thanthirimudalige of the Owl and Pussycat Hotel. Pic by M.D. Nissanka
The four judges have wide and varied backgrounds related to literature. Aftab Jafferjee, a criminal barrister based in London will be publishing his first novel this year, Anthea Peris Flambert has worked in broadcast journalism and as a teacher both in Sri Lanka and abroad and poet and freelance communication specialist Dilhani Thantirimudalige was still a schoolgirl when her poem ‘The world I see’ was published in the 1991 American Poetry Anthology. London-based media entrepreneur/ investor and blogger Gehan Talwatte completes the panel.
Aftab said that the judges were impressed by the quality of the work which made selecting the winner quite difficult and revealed that the final selection won over the poem which was placed second by decimal points. “We as the judges thank all of you for giving us the pleasure of going through such wonderful art and poetry,” he said.
“We hope that the prize for poetry that we are offering sponsored by the Owl and the Pussycat Hotel in Thalpe would encourage young poets in Sri Lanka to take their talent forward,” stated co-founder of the Owl and the Pussycat hotel Shane Thantirimudalige, adding that he hoped that the winners would use the money to publish a book of poetry. Shane co-founded both the hotel and the prize with Reita Gadikari.
The five finalists read their submissions in random order before the winners were announced. First up was A/Level student Gayan Perera with ‘Billy Joy in Follyland’ – a whimsical poem about a boy who visited a strange realm called ‘Follyland’ and the adventures and lessons he learnt while there. Law student Asma Rizmi’s poem ‘Night’ described the beauty and tranquility of a moonlit night on the beach. The third reading was by young professional Sandesh Bartlett–titled ‘Colombo Aunties Club’ – a hilarious take on the gossipy middle-aged Lankan ‘aunties’. Education professional Hasangee Jayawardane then read her poem ‘A golden eve’ – a lyrical description of the night-time wanderings of animals and Khema Wijeywardane tweaked the famous nursery rhyme in her poem ‘The wheels on the bus’ to describe bus rides in this country.
Gayan Perera won the first prize of Rs. 250, 000 while Khema Wijeywardane was placed second winning Rs. 150, 000 and Sandesh Bartlett, bagged the third prize of Rs. 75, 000
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Gayan explained that he entered the competition after reading a newspaper advertisement. His interest in poetry began, he said, when he was an O/L student studying poetry as part of his English Literature syllabus. He has written only about five poems before this. While he thought he might have a chance of being placed in the top 5, he never expected that he would win the prize, he stated. Sitting for his Advanced Level examination this year, Gayan plans to use the prize money to fund a Bachelor’s in Information Technology. “Write your emotions in the poem,” he advises other aspiring young poets.