The Gratiaen Prize

The Gratiaen Prize has an unbroken history of rewarding literary excellence in Sri Lanka. This year’s event themed “Twenty years of Sri Lankan story telling” reiterated the longevity of the prize as well as the truly Sri Lankan-ness of the award and the effort around the Gratiaen Prize.

The prize was established by Michael Ondaatje who was the joint winner of the Booker Prize for his novel, which has since been made into a very popular and successful film, ‘The English Patient,’ in 1993. Ondaatje’s vision of promoting Sri Lankan writing in English through a prize devoted to resident Sri Lankan writers, has inspired and encouraged writing in English in all genres for two decades. A number of Gratiaen Prize winners have gained regional and international critical acclaim and popular success.

The Gratiaen Prize is hosted by Standard Chartered Bank. Anirvaran Ghosh Dastidar, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered, speaking at the awards event said: “The bank is very proud of its long affiliation with the award which is now celebrating its 20th year. The prize has successfully provided an impetus to encouraging creative writing in English in the country, and we look forward to seeing even greater enthusiasm as the years progress.”

Chairman of the judging panel, Jayantha Dhanapala, commenting on the judging process, reflected on the difficult task of judging between different genres such as poetry, drama and prose, but commended the quality of the submissions. He said: “The winning entry was an innovative and eclectic mix of realist and allegorical genres which critically reflected on contemporary Sri Lankan society with sustained irony.”

Dhanapala also applauded the Trust for its steadfast service to fostering the country’s literary culture and commended Standard Chartered Bank for its commitment to substantive Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.

The Panel of Judges of the 2012 Gratiaen Prize included Jayantha Dhanapala, former career diplomat (chair), Sumathy Sivamohan, academic, writer, dramatist and filmmaker and senior journalist Lyn Ockersz. The other shortlisted works were ‘It’s not in the Stars’ by Rizvina Morseth de Alwis, ‘Kalumaali’ by Ruwanthie de Chickera and Nadie Kammallaweera, ‘Open Words are for Love-Letting’ by Malinda Seneviratne and ‘The Professional’ by Saroj Sinnetamby.