Gratiaen Prize
The Gratiaen Prize is an annual literary prize for the best work of literary writing in English by a resident of Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1992 by the Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje with the money he received as joint-winner of the Booker Prize for his novel The English Patient.[1] The prize is named after Ondaatje's mother, Doris Gratiaen.
Administered by the Gratiaen Trust based in Sri Lanka, the Gratiaen Prize accepts printed books and manuscripts in a range of genres including fiction, poetry, drama, creative prose and literary memoir. Entries may be submitted by both authors and publishers. Submissions are accepted between 1 and 31 December in a given year and are assessed by a panel of three judges appointed by the trust who are required to short-list three to five entries. The short-list event (open to the public) is usually held in April and hosted by the British Council in Colombo. The gala at which the winner is announced is held some weeks later at a venue selected by the trust and the event sponsors and is for invitees only.
The prize could be awarded for a translated work until 2003, when the trust established the H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize, which is awarded every second year for a work translated into English from Sinhala or Tamil.
Winners
1993
- Carl Muller, The Jam Fruit Tree[2]
- Lalitha Withanachchi, Wind Blows Over the Hills
1994
- Punyakante Wijenaike, Amulet[3]
1995
- Sybil Wettasinghe, The Child in Me
- Rajiva Wijesingha, Servants
1996
- Tissa Abeysekera, Bringing Tony Home
1997
- Gamini Akmeemana, The Mirage
1998
- Jeanne Thwaites, It's a Sunny Day on the Moon
1999
- Neil Fernandopulle, Shrapnel
- Visakesa Chandrasekaram, Forbidden Area
2000
- Ruwanthi De Chickera, Middle of Silence
2001
- Elmo Jayawardena, Sam’s Story
- Sumathi Sivamohan, In the Shadow of the Gun/The Wicked Witch
2002
- Vijita Fernando, Out of the Darkness
2003
- Nihal De Silva, Road from Elephant Pass
2004
- Jagath Kumarasinghe, Kider Chetty Street
2005
- Delon Weerasinghe, Thicker Than Blood
2006
- Senaka Abeyratne, 3 Star K
- Isankya Kodittuwakku, The Banana Tree Crisis
2007
- Vivimarie Vanderpoorten, Nothing Prepares You
2008
2009
- Prashani Rambukwella, Mythil's Secret
2010
- Sakuntala Sachithanandan, On the Streets and Other Revelations
2011
- Madhubhashini Disanayake-Ratnayake, There's Something I Have to Tell You
2012
- Lal Meddawattegedera, Playing Pillow Talk at MGK
2013
- Malinda Seneviratne, Edges[4]
2014
- Vihanga Perera, Love and Protest[5]
2015
- Thiyagaraja Arasanayagam, White Lanterns: Wesak 2011
2016
- Charulatha Abeysekara Thewarathanthri, Stories[6]
2017
- Jean Arasanayagam, The Life of the Poet[7]
2018
- Arun Welandawe-Prematilleke, The One Who Loves You So[8]
2019
- Andrew Fidel Fernando, Upon a Sleepless Isle
2020
- Carmel Miranda, Crossmatch[9]
2021
- Ashok Ferrey, The Unmarriageable Man[10]
2022
- Chiranthi Rajapaksa, Keeping Time and Other Stories
- Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, The Wretched and the Damned [11]
References
- ^ "About". The Gratiaen Trust. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- ^ "Gratiaen Prize Winners & Short Listed Writers 1993-2021". The Gratiaen Trust. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ^ "1994 Winner". The Gratiaen Prize for Creative Writing in English. The Gratiaen Trust. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015.
- ^ "Malinda Seneviratne wins Gratiaen Prize". Adaderana. 25 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- ^ "The Gratiaen Prizes 2014". Asian Tribune. 13 June 2015. Archived from the original on 15 June 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- ^ "Charulatha Abeysekara Thewarathanthri wins 2016 Gratiaen Prize, Aditha Dissanayake awarded H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize for Translation". Daily FT. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ^ "Jean Arasanayagam Wins 2017 Gratiaen Prize". Colombo Telegraph. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
- ^ "Sunday Times - 2018 Gratiaen Prize goes to Arun Welandawe- Prematilleke". Sunday Times. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- ^ Yomal Senerath-Yapa (4 July 2021). "Carmel wins the Gratiaen for her debut whodunit". Sunday Times. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- ^ "Ashok Ferry wins Gratiaen Prize 2021". Daily FT. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- ^ "Dual winners for Gratiaen prize 2023 - Life Online". www.life.lk. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
External links
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