Fairway Galle Literary Festival returns for the ninth time

The much awaited Fairway Galle Literary Festival returns for the ninth time at its home, the UNESCO World heritage site of Galle Fort, Sri Lanka. In partnership with Fairway Holdings for the third year, The Fairway Galle Literary Festival will take place from January 24 - 28,  2018.

The Fairway Galle Literary Festival is Sri Lanka’s only dedicated literary festival and will feature renowned and accomplished authors, filmmakers, radio broadcasters, newspaper editors and academics from countries around the world including England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Guyana, Pakistan, India and Tasmania.

Highlights of the 2018 Festival include the attendance of Pankaj Mishra, author of ‘Age of Anger’(2017) and of Shrabani Basu, whose novel ‘Victoria and Abdul’ has just been made into a major motion picture starring Dame Judi Dench; also in attendance acclaimed film producer David, Lord Puttnam, the recipient of 10 Oscars who memorably brought us ‘Chariots of Fire.’

Other acclaimed writers include Bachi Karkaria whose recent publication ‘In Hot Blood’ is the first non-fiction account of the famous Nanavati murder case that was to signal the end of the jury system in India, Alexander McCall Smith, Emeritus Professor of Medical Ethics at the University of Edinburgh, whose popular ‘No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’ novels follow a female detective in Botswana.

Yet other authors include Bruce Wannell who is a scholar, linguist and travel writer; his works include ‘Sufism: Mystical Writings of Islam’ (2007) and books on Iran and Ancient Persia. Guyanese - born broadcaster, novelist, poet and academic David Dabydeen is prolific writer whose first collection of poems ‘Slave Song’ (1984) won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize.

Hilali Noordeen is the only living former Sri Lankan President of the Oxford Union (1983) (the other two former Presidents Lalith Athulathmudali and Lakshman Kadirgamar were assassinated). Pakistani journalist and media professional Laaleen Sukera’s latest project ‘Austenistan’, is a Jane Austen inspired anthology set in Pakistani society and will be published by Bloomsbury.

Sri Lankan authors will include Nayomi Munaweera whose book ‘What Lies Between Us’ won the Best English Novel at the State Literary Awards 2017, Ashok Ferrey, Channa Daswatte, Vivimarie VanderPoorten and Charulatha Abeysekara among others.