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Gratiaen Prize 2020 winners to be announced on July 02
The winners of the Gratiaen Prize 2020 and the H A I Goonethilake Prize for Translation will be announced on July 02 at an online event live-streamed at 7.00 PM on the Facebook page of the Gratiaen Trust.
The Gratiaen Prize shortlist for 2020, which was announced on April 5, 2021 is: Ameena Hussain for Chasing Tall Tales and Mystics: Ibn Batuta in Sri Lanka – a creative telling of the journeys of Ibn Batuta; Carmel Miranda for Crosswatch – a medical mystery novel; Jehan Aloysius for Mind Games – a dramatic script; Lal Medawattegedara for Restless Rust – a novel in manuscript form; and Ciara Mandulee Mendis for Red Brick Wall a collection of short stories in manuscript form.
This year the judging panel is chaired by Mahendran Thiruvarangan, a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Jaffna and an active arts and political commentator. Other members in the panel are well-known creative writer and public personality Ashok Ferrey and Victoria Walker, a former diplomat and passionate supporter of arts and culture, currently working as a volunteer for Sri Lanka’s Design for Sustainable Development Foundation. Detailed bios of the jury members can be found on the Gratiaen Trust website.
The judging panel for the H A I Goonethilake Prize, which is awarded bi-annually, is: Rohana Seneviratne, a professor at the Department of Classical Languages at the University of Peradeniya (Chair), Sivanandam Sivasegaram, a former professor at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Peradeniya and a veteran Tamil translator and Kaushalya Fernando a well-known bilingual dramatist and actress. The H A I Goonethilake Prize seeks to address a critical gap in the Sri Lankan literary scene where literary work published in Sinhala and Tamil rarely becomes available in English. The H A I Goonethilake Prize recognizes excellence in translation to foster a more robust culture of literary exchange between local languages and English with the long-term vision of taking Sri Lankan local-language writing to a much broader audience by making it available in English.
The Gratiaen Prize 2020 is the second award event to be presented under the Gratiaen Trust’s continuing partnership with John Keells Foundation – the CSR entity of the John Keells Group – following the Primary Sponsorship Agreement entered into between the parties in October 2019. This partnership falls within John Keells Foundation’s focus area of Arts & Culture aimed at nurturing the livelihoods of artists towards safeguarding and promoting Sri Lankan arts and culture under its overall vision of “Empowering the Nation for Tomorrow”.
This is also the second consecutive year that the Gratiaen Prize has been forced to adapt to the restrictions placed by the global Coronavirus pandemic. However, despite the significant challenges posed by the current context, the Gratiaen Trust remains committed to promoting and recognizing English creative writing in Sri Lanka.
Latest News
Food Policy and Security Committee recommends importation of rice to ensure an uninterrupted supply
The Food Policy and Security Committee has recommended the importation of rice in the near future to ensure an uninterrupted supply for consumers.
A notable increase in rice prices has been observed in the market, along with reports of shortages of certain rice varieties, despite the current harvest season.
Given this situation, discussions were held regarding the need for the Cabinet to prioritize the maintenance of sufficient stock, through rice imports.
The Committee, chaired by Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation K.D. Lalkantha and Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Vasantha Samarasinghe, convened for the fifth time at the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday (01). The meeting aimed to formulate policy decisions to ensure food security.
During the discussions, it was revealed that due to excessive rainfall this year, crop damage occurred on two occasions, leading to a significant reduction in the expected harvest.
Furthermore, during the meeting it was stated that the improper use of rice for animal feed is another major reason contributing to the rice shortage. As a result, the Committee also focused on the importation of broken rice for animal feed and the use of alternative feeds to mitigate the impact on livestock production.
Accordingly, the Food Policy and Security Committee approved the formation of a Committee, led by the Director General of Agriculture, to oversee the importation of the required quantity of broken rice through proper mechanisms.
Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Kapila Janaka Bandara, and other members of the Food Policy and Security Committee, including Ministry Secretaries, participated in the discussions.
The People of Myanmar are facing immense hardships caused by the devastating earthquake on 28th March and as reported by the international media reports the death toll is over 2,700. Furthermore, it has been reported that many people are missing while, a large number of individuals have been injured and are receiving treatment.
Considering the long – term close relationship between the two nations as two Buddhist states, the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to provide,
• A sum of United States Dollars One Million
• Transportation for the dry rations collected by Buddhist clergy and other donors
• To have a group of medical officers and health staff on standby for immediate departure to Myanmar if necessary
Latest News
Cabinet appoints ministerial committee to submit report on sanctions imposed on 04 Sri Lankans by the United Kingdom
Attention of the Cabinet of Ministers have been drawn on the decisions taken by the United Kingdom to impose sanctions on four Sri Lankan individuals recently, and have decided to appoint a committee comprised of three ministers to submit a report with recommendations on the further measures to be taken after studying the facts in the regard and to empower the committee to obtain the service of any officer/intellect deemed to have subject expertise in the relevant field and considered essential.
The committee will comprise of :
– Vijitha Herath Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism
– Attorney – at – Law Harshana Nanayakkara Minister of Justice and National Integrity
– Aruna Jayasekara Deputy Minister of Defence
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Food Policy and Security Committee recommends importation of rice to ensure an uninterrupted supply
Cabinet approves providing relief to the people of Myanmar
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