A bouquet of children’s short stories from Neluka
Professor Neluka Silva is a delightful academic oddity- a don who chooses to spend most of her off-hours gently coaxing creativity out of pre-teen writers, or honing the theatrical finesse of young actors through her workshops.
Having given readers a taste of modern Sri Lankan living with the novel The Iron Fence; Our Neighbours and Other Stories; and the Rolled Back Beach (a Tsunami story collection), Neluka is now ready to offer a bouquet of children’s short stories.
Professor of English at the University of Colombo, Neluka was educated at the universities of Colombo, Leeds, Oxford and Cambridge, and is currently President of the University of Oxford Alumni Society of Sri Lanka. The tales in her book are original, lively, witty, intricate and make for utterly compelling reading. They hint at an imagination that can deftly plot out a rich, satisfying story that has intensity and humour and enough plot twists to capture the imagination. Anyone from eight upwards can appreciate them.
There is the archetypal childhood nightmare of missing out on a much-anticipated elephant safari, the sad saga of the ‘Middle Child’ treated as invisible by his parents, the boy who gave up ambitions to be a vampire because he was scared of blood- and being lost in the middle of Rome. There is also the occasional allegorical tale- all of them imparting much wisdom.
Indeed one major trigger for Neluka to write these stories was that growing up (even though part of it in England) she would feel alienated by British children’s books with midnight feasts, Guy Fawkes Nights, farmhouses and cottages in the woods.
So these are Sri Lankan stories (though middle class and English speaking) – stories that often rustle as the pages turn- with a whisper that says “you are not alone in what you are going through- you never will be”.
Neluka Silva
Neluka’s harshest critics are her daughters Nimaya and Seravi Harris- who also provide her the best feedback.
Having been immersed in their journey from childhood and having run her workshops for children for over 15 years, Neluka has more than an inkling of what defines the lives of children.
Not all the stories have overtly positive endings because she wanted her readers to know life is not always idyllic or perfect- but there is always hope like the bright dawn star- “because I think that’s a very important factor in life and especially for childhood.”
While the stories were fished out of her imagination- there are bold streaks of the biographical. She gave a Sri Lankan post-Easter attack setting to an experience of racial prejudice in England while the story of a girl obsessed with zebras had its genesis at a safari in South Africa with her two daughters.
Neluka remembers with gratitude two writers who helped her give birth to this her first book for children- Prashani Rambukwella and Lal Medawattegedara, who read and reread and knocked the book into its enviable final shape- twelve stories you can read in one gusty breath.
My Elephant Secret and Other Stories will be launched tomorrow (Monday, December 16). The book, priced at Rs 900 will be available at all leading bookshops.