The mermaid motifs of Batticaloa come to life

 Sharanya Manivannan - Pic by Catriona Mitchell

• Mermaids in the Moonlight and Incantations Over Water

By Surya Vishwa 

In this interview with the Weekend FT, 36-year-old Sri Lankan origin author and poet Sharanya Manivannan speaks about her two books connected, in an interlinked manner, to the folklore of Batticaloa revolving around the mermaid motifs and the legends about the singing fish:

Q: Tell us about yourself and how you came to write about the fictionalised form of intangible cultural heritage through folklore of Batticaloa in east Sri Lanka? 

A: My family is from Batticaloa. We left Sri Lanka in 1990, when I was around five years old. I had lived in Colombo as a child, but did not get a chance to go to Batticaloa until 2012, when I was 27 years old. I have lived in India since 2007. 

I was raised in Malaysia by my grandparents, who longed deeply for Batticaloa and for the island itself, and this longing infused my upbringing. This longing has also always permeated my work, and after several other books, it was with my Ila duology (comprised of my picture book ‘Mermaids in the Moonlight’ and my graphic novel ‘Incantations Over Water’, both of which I wrote and illustrated) that I delved right into the heart of this longing. These interlinked books are known as the Ila duology because they feature a mermaid named Ila (whose name is contained within the Tamil word for Sri Lanka, Ilankai). They are set in Batticaloa, and revolve around how there are mermaid motifs all over the public façade of the town (in celebration of the “singing fish” natural phenomenon). 

When I was a child growing up in Malaysia, soon after we watched Disney’s The Little Mermaid, my mother said that there was a mermaid in our hometown, and she sang in the lagoon on full moon nights. It was only when I first went to Batticaloa, and saw the mermaid motif everywhere, that I realised that this was not merely something she had said because of the Disney film, but that the symbol held far more significance. As an adult, what was really striking to me was the mermaid figure was everywhere, but that folklore about her was curiously absent. The books honour my heritage and the landscape, and use the mermaid symbolism to express both.

Q:  Can you tell how your two books, Mermaids in the Moonlight and Incantations over Water came to be written and published?

A: I had first explored the Batticaloa mermaid in one short story in my collection ‘The High Priestess Never Marries’. When this book was published in 2016, that story continued to linger in my mind and I wanted to explore the motif further. That was when I began dreaming of these two books. Initially, I had imagined only doing a graphic novel. But the children’s book surprised me, and I created it first. I did not have an easy time placing these linked, full-colour visual books with a publisher during the pandemic. I am grateful that Westland Books gave them a home, and am devastated that the company has been shut down without any warning by its parent company, Amazon. We were notified only on 1 February, and the entire Indian publishing field is aghast. Because of this, these two books of mine will soon be out of print. As of now I have no certainty if they will ever be republished. The last date for bookstores to order copies of Moonlight is 15 February, and for Incantations it will be 15 March. 

Q: These two books are for children and adults respectively, aren’t it?

A: Yes – Mermaids in the Moonlight is for all ages, and especially for children. Incantations Over Water is for adults, and may not be appropriate for a younger audience.

Q:  What is the public response you got so far for the two books and how is the response different?

A: Mermaids in the Moonlight was released in February 2021, just a month or two before the devastating second COVID-19 took over India. Supply chain issues related to the pandemic meant that the book was not distributed in Sri Lanka at all, although technically it should have been available in the Indian subcontinent. I lost a parent during the second wave of the COVID pandemic, a period during which I was intensely working on Incantations Over Water. As such, I did not have the mental or practical energy or time to promote Moonlight. I had thought to myself – let Incantations also come out, and then maybe more people will come to know about the previous book as well.

Incantations came out at the end of December 2021, just as the third wave began in India (fortunately, it has been shorter and less lethal, but people were falling ill and so there was not much buzz about the book). Then, in a shocking turn of events, Westland Books was shut down barely a month after Incantations was released. No one at this publishing house, or in the writing field, saw this coming. The decision came from the parent company, Amazon. There has been a huge surge of public interest in Westland titles, but the entire catalogue will be going out of print soon with no certain future for individual books. I am very sad that there is but a small window left for readers to bring Moonlight and Incantations into their lives but I hope that somehow this challenge will be overcome.

Q: What are the international bookshops selling your book now and how can any reader worldwide get it?

A: Any reader worldwide can contact a number of independent bookstores in India who provide international shipping, and can be reached through WhatsApp messages as well as on social media and email. These include Storyteller (+91-8910896319), Bookworm (+91-9331051191), Dogears (91-98503 98530), Blossom (+91- 9448220202) and Midland (+91-9818282497). In Sri Lanka, My Happy Place in Hokandara ([email protected]) has both books. Please keep in mind the deadlines for when bookstores must place their final orders for any books from the soon-to-be-obsolete Westland catalogue. I am on Instagram (@sharanya_manivannan) and have posted relevant information for readers, libraries and bookstores.

Q:  Is the publishing rights with you or the publisher?

A: The publishing rights for both books will revert to me in April.

Q: How do you hope to promote the book worldwide once you get the rights?

A: As these are full-colour visual books, self-publishing is too expensive to consider. I hope to find a good publisher for them. As for getting the books worldwide – all that is beyond my control. Once the rights revert to me, the books will effectively disappear from the market. Even if I do find a publisher, it could be years before they come out again, as that is how the industry functions.

Q: Is your immediate family still in Batticaloa and how often do you come back to your hometown?

A: I was last in Batticaloa in 2019, and the pandemic has kept me from returning since. 

Q:  Oral narrations of folklore is not something that easily gets into adult literature. What are the books that influenced you?

A: There have actually been big fairytale, mythology and folklore-based trends in the international publishing market in recent years. But what I can certainly say is that Batticaloa itself gets very little visibility. It really was so strange to me that the mermaid motif’s importance to that region hadn’t already been explored. I know because I researched widely, and spoke extensively with writers, fisherpeople, academics and others in Batticaloa and beyond. 

Reading-wise, for the Ila duology, I dove into the great expanse of mermaid literature across the world. Many people who have read either or both books were surprised to learn that there are SO many mermaid stories. Disney’s and Hans Christian Andersen’s are far from the only ones. My Ila duology tells the stories of many mermaids from all over the globe, and many readers have told me how surprised they were to learn there were more than they knew.

Q: As a child what have been your favourite books?

A: I have always adored books – even before I could read, I loved to look at the pictures. One thing I’d like to share is that when I was growing up, most of the books that were on the market were written by people in the West, for children in the West. It was rare to see a brown or non-white child in those books, except in some exotic or even insulting way (think about the derogatory racial caricatures in much-loved books like Enid Blyton’s and the Noddy series, for example). This has begun to change. For example, India has produced some amazing children’s literature in the last decade.

Q: How do you think national unity in Sri Lanka and connecting the Lankan communities the world over can happen through books?

A: I wrote Mermaids in The Moonlight especially for children whose grandparents or parents had left the island, to give them a book that links them to their cultural heritage. But when I was doing beta readings prior to publication, one of my beta readers was a little girl in Colombo whose grandmother lives in Batticaloa. Even though she had visited her grandmother many times, she had not heard about the singing fish phenomenon. That was when I realised that my book would have value to young readers even within the island.

Especially in a place that has a history of conflict, people tend to get attached to one narrative or another. These are heavily influenced by curriculums, agendas and the dynamics of politics behind them. Literature and all the arts offer the possibility of holding space for many different stories, adding nuance to what we know and what we think we know.

Q: Could you speak of your artistic talent. How and when did you pursue this?

A: I had been drawing and painting since my teens, and I had been writing since I was seven years old. Both my art and my writing have been a source of solace for. They nurture me like my grandmother’s lap used to do, and from that precious space, I create. I am fortunate beyond measure to be able to share my work with the world. The Westland shutdown, that cruelly truncates the shelf life of my books, has shaken me. But I will regain my faith, and return to my passions. 

FT Key take 

For Sri Lankan readers these two books are available from the following address.

My Happy Place, 414/20 A, Carnation Park, Hokandara 10118, Sri Lanka

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myhappyplace.lk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myhappyplacelk/

About the books

Mermaids in the Moonlight

Nilavoli and Amma voyage down a lagoon in Mattakalappu, listening to the mysterious sounds that rise from the deep.

As little Nilavoli listens in wonder, Amma dives into folklore and fishes out spellbinding tales of mermaids from around the world. From the royal mermaid Mélusine of Luxembourg to Julnar the sea-born from West Asia, from the shapeshifting Menana of the Ottawa Nation to the mermaid princess Suvarnamaccha, a daughter of Ravana who fell in love with Hanuman, the stories are all touched with magic.

Like a mermaid’s song, this beautifully illustrated picture book by acclaimed author and poet Sharanya Manivannan will enchant every young reader.

Incantations Over Water

On full moon nights, from deep within the lagoons of Mattakalappu, Ilankai, mysterious sounds emerge. During the three decades of civil war, it is said, those sounds had ceased. The mermaid Ila, who has lived in those waters for a long, long time, speaks and sings about her world (and the worlds of mermaids everywhere). Her stories weave together cultural history, eco-consciousness, political reality and personal longing – and always, the magical.

Praise for Mermaids in the Moonlight

“Nestled amid the magic of mer-beings and the mysterious depths of stories from foreign lands is the tender tale of a rite of passage, an initiation into wonder and otherworldliness. A rarely seen depiction of the mother-daughter dynamics that will serve as your anchor in the vast sea of what-could-be.” – Kannalmozhi Kabilan in The New Indian Express

“Dreamlike illustrations” – Praveen Sudevan in The Hindu

“The stories can hold safe space for adults, and children to understand that the world is kind and cruel at the same time, and to tell children that when life becomes overwhelming, curling up in the lap of stories could be restorative. Amma gives Nilavoli many things – truth, imagination, curiosity, and the cultures of many peoples. A child loved like that can make the healing less painful.” – The Bookdog

“Mesmerising… The mythology of mermaids has always enthralled children but I love that this book dives a little deeper into the mythos and explores strong female identities…” – Toka Box

“…a sheer treat for the senses… The book’s vibrant illustrations make the work unpredictable, and yet alive, just like the evocative prose.” – Mid-Day

“Over and over I have read, to my seven-year-old daughter, Westland author Sharanya Manivannan’s Mermaids in the Moonlight. I received Mermaids as a gift from a friend who breathes books like air, and my daughter and I have both loved it so dearly.” – Durba Chattaraj in Scroll

Praise for Incantations Over Water

“Sharanya Manivannan’s Incantations Over Water is storytelling magic — Ila the mermaid has an irresistible voice steeped in history, myth and pure wonder. Like its compelling narrator, this powerful book will call to you. A beautifully told and illustrated tale of the Kallady lagoon, and of the water that connects us all.” – V.V. Ganeshananthan, author of Love Marriage

“Sharanya Manivannan’s storytelling is quicksilver, refusing — yet again — to be constrained by genre. Incantations Over Water is lyrical and experimental, invoking old lore, timeless sprites, and magic that isn’t of the obvious kind.” - Amruta Patil, author of Adi Parva and Sauptik

“Incantations is a lyrical book, with prose that reads like poetry, and sentences that stay with you long after the pages are turned… Manivannan has illustrated the book herself, creating visuals of the lagoon and Ila that are beautiful and stirring.” – Joanna Lobo, Firstpost

“Her words and art have a hypnotic effect as they draw the readers into a world that is replete with ‘cultural history, eco-consciousness, political reality, and personal longing’. Magic surrealism meets glorious profundity, making this a novel that one would want to keep around for many years.” – Shrestha Saha, The Telegraph

“Incantations offers what you desire to draw from it and then some.” – Kannalmozhi Kabilan, The New Indian Express