It’s 2009 and all book lovers are counting the days to the Literary Festival which will be held from January 28 to February 1 in Galle with a galaxy of literary figures both local and foreign billed to attend.
Here’s a brief look at some of the authors who’ll be at the Galle Literary Festival:
Michael Morpurgo
Award winning children’s writer and former Children’s Laureate from 2003-2005, Michael Morpurgo has written over 100 books for children including ‘Private Peaceful’, ‘Kenuske’s Kingdom’, ‘Alone on a Wide Wide Sea’ and ‘War Horse’. He has travelled all over the world talking to children about his work and encouraging them to tell their own stories. His latest novel is Kaspar, Prince of Cats, the story of a cat that survives the Titanic.
Anne Ranasinghe
Internationally renowned poet Anne Ranasinghe has also published short stories, essays and translations. Escaping from Nazi Germany to England, she married a Sri Lankan professor and became a citizen of Ceylon in 1956. Drawing from her own life experiences, her writing has been described as “vibrantly sensuous or stark and deeply moving”. The Holocaust is a recurring theme in her poetry and is contrasted with Sri Lanka’s violent past as in ‘July 1983’.
She has won numerous local and international awards including the Sri Lanka Arts Council Prize for Poetry in 1985 and 1992 and for Non-Fiction in 1987. In 1994, she won the State Literary Award for Best Collection of Short Stories.
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