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Shehan Karunatilaka: ‘I may write about 2022 Lanka protests in 20 years’

Published

4 years ago

2023/02/13

Booker Prize-winner Shehan Karunatilaka is unlikely to make the protests of 2022, in Sri Lanka, the theme of a book anytime soon.

“I’m not a journalist. I wait 20 years, look back, make sure anyone who could take offence is dead and then I write. It’s a self preservation thing. If you’re talking about south Asia, you know what it’s like. If you talk contemporary stuff, it can be quite dangerous,” says Karunatilaka, winner of the Booker Prize 2022 for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, which is set in 1990, against the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s civil war. “By the time I get to 2022, it will be 2042,” said a report published by the Times of India yesterday

During the session, ‘From Mauryas to Mughals’, on the first day of the Times Litfest in Bengalaru, Karunatilaka said that there is a sense of wonder at how Sri Lankans can unite around a single event — as with the 1996 World Cup win, in the midst of ethnic strife, or last year’s protests. “We were all on the streets on July 9 (2022). It was a tremendous moment. It proved this divided country can unite behind a single idea, even if the idea is to go home to the President,” said Karunatilaka, during his session at the Times Litfest, adding wryly he usually watches protests from a safe distance.

Karunatilaka spoke about how the narrative around the protests has already changed and the protests are now being “demonised”. “That is the thing about events in Sri Lankan history. Many narratives are written and there is no definitive narrative.”

He said his first published novel, Chinaman, was the first time he saw a project through. “Once you get an idea, writing the next 300 pages is the tough part.” But research for his cricket-themed novel was easy: watching cricket matches, set in the time of Sri Lanka’s World Cup win, and “hanging around with drunken uncles”. Following his Booker win, publishers in both China and the US plan to publish Chinaman, albeit with the title changed, even though it is widely used cricketing jargon for a left-arm leg spinner. “It’s the one thing America and China agree on. The title of my book needs a change.”

Of his unpublished first novel, Karunatilaka said, “I was wise enough to know the book did not work, and I moved on.” On his soon-to-be-released collection of short stories, which he decided to compile after he realised that he had written more than 30 over several years, he quipped, “Short stories are what I did while I was procrastinating on novels.”

Asked if he had any advice for aspiring young authors in the audience, he said, “Write only if you find a story will not leave you alone and you are the only one who can tell it the way it should be told.”

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Sun directly overhead Mannar, Periyamadu, Puliyankulam, Welioya and Pulmoddai about 12.11 noon today (30)

Published

3 hours ago

2026/08/30

Priyan

The sun is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from 28th of August to 07th of September due to its apparent southward relative motion.

The nearest places of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (30) are Mannar, Periyamadu, Puliyankulam, Welioya and
Pulmoddai about 12.11 noon.

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Lanka tracks 11 US-sanctioned Iranian tankers off coast

Published

5 hours ago

2026/08/30

Thilina Walpola

(AFP) Sri Lanka’s maritime authorities were monitoring a fleet of 11 US-sanctioned Iranian oil tankers just off the island’s southern coast, the foreign minister said Wednesday.

The tankers were spotted close to the Galle harbour where an Iranian frigate, IRIS Dena, was sunk by a US submarine in March, killing 104 sailors. Sri Lanka’s navy rescued 32 Iranian sailors from that frigate.

Iranian vessels have been in limbo, unable to return to their home port because of a US blockade.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign minister Vijitha Herath said the tankers were in international waters where they had freedom of navigation.

“These ships are away from our territorial waters… we have no hold on them, nor have we facilitated them,” Herath told AFP.

The military deployed reconnaissance aircraft and patrol boats to monitor the vessels outside Sri Lanka’s 12-nautical-mile territorial waters, a military official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“There is no indication of any ship-to-ship transfer of oil or illegal discharge of pollutants, so there is no basis for Sri Lankan authorities to take action against them,” the official said.

Many Iranian merchant vessels moved east towards the Strait of Malacca and Singapore due to US sanctions, while several remained near Sri Lankan waters, authorities said.

Sri Lankan officials said Washington had not formally notified Colombo about sanctioned Iranian-flagged vessels

News

House to debate abolition of Chief of Defence Staff post

Published

5 hours ago

2026/08/30

Thilina Walpola

Parliament is to debate next Wednesday the Government’s proposal to abolish the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), with the Second Reading of the Chief of Defence Staff (Repeal) Bill scheduled for September 9.

The Bill seeks to repeal the Chief of Defence Staff Act No. 35 of 2009, which was introduced shortly after the end of the armed conflict.

According to Secretary General of Parliament Kushani Rohanadeera, Parliament will meet from September 8 to 11, with the business for the week approved by the Committee on Parliamentary Business chaired by Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne.

The debate on the Chief of Defence Staff (Repeal) Bill is scheduled to take place from 11.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, following questions to the Prime Minister and other parliamentary business.

The CDS post was established under the 2009 Act as part of the country’s higher defence command structure.

On Tuesday, September 8, the House will consider two Orders published in Extraordinary Gazettes under the Motor Traffic Act from 11.30 a.m. to 5 p.m., followed by an Opposition motion at the adjournment.

On Thursday, September 10, Parliament will debate a Resolution under the Women’s Empowerment Act.

The final sitting day of the week, Friday, September 11, has been allocated from 11.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. for several Private Members’ Motions.

The motions will cover issues including regulation of the petroleum, fuel and water industries, measures to increase the birth rate, protection of the Diyagama Forest, pension deductions affecting Pirivena teachers, food-crop cultivation in mountainous areas, development of the Kithul industry and the establishment of a Faculty of Medicine at South Eastern University.

Questions at the adjournment will be taken up at the end of each sitting day.