The Gratiaen shortlist is announced

Standard Chartered Bank proud to be affiliated with the Gratiaen Prize and the encouragement of writing in English by resident Sri Lankans

Standard Chartered Bank has been affiliated with Sri Lanka’s most important literary award in English, the Gratiaen Prize, since its inception in 1993.

This evening at an event hosted by the British Council, the judges announced the much anticipated short list of five authors, selected from amongst approximately fifty submissions.

The short listed writers for 2010, in alphabetical order, are:

* Rozaine Cooray for ‘Colours of the Sun’

* Shyam Dissanayake for ‘Dalada’

* Herman Gunaratne for ‘The Suicide Club’

* Shirani Rajapakse for ‘Breaking News’

* Sakunthala  

Sachithanandan for ‘On the Streets and other revelations’

Excerpts from the short listed works were read giving the gathered crowd a taste of the talent of the authors and their claim to a place on the coveted Gratiaen short list for 2010. The award event, which will be held on 21 May, will disclose the winner of the prestigious Gratiaen Prize for 2010.

Now in its 18th year, the Gratiaen Prize rewards the best writing in English by a resident Sri Lankan. The judges for the 2010 award, veteran journalist and social activist Feizal Samath, chairperson of the Sunethra Bandaranaike Trust Sunethra Bandaranaike and academic Dinithi Karunanayake, have made their choice from entries submitted by authors and publishers, which included fiction, poetry, drama and literary memoir, either published during the last year or presented in manuscript form. The value of the prize is Rs. 200,000.  

Standard Chartered’s Chief Executive, Anirvan Ghosh-Dastidar, speaking on the bank’s support of the awards, said: “The bank is proud of its affiliation with the Gratiaen award and the trust’s efforts to engender literary excellence. The campaign launched by the bank for the 2010 award ‘English in text, Sri Lankan in essence’ truly reflects the aspiration for recognition and distinction of local writers.”