Some thoughts for the Galle Literary Festival:2009 :

A Change of skies and change of directions

by Indeewara Thlakarathne and Ranga Chandrarathne

In our last essay on the 2008 Galle Literary Festival (GLF) we wrote that it opened up a can of worms. (Sunday Observer 27/01/08) In fact, it has. We got feedback from prestigious writers such as Professor Yasmine Gooneratne to ordinary folks who came to know that someone organised a 'very important' literary festival in Galle in the midst of all what's happening in Sri Lanka.

As the 2008 GLF has closed the curtains, now it is of no use to pass judgments whether it was a great success or not and whether Gore Vidal and Vikram Seth were impressed with our Dutch architecture in the Galle Fort etc.

We learnt that the organising committee is meeting soon to discuss the structure and the format for the 2009 GLF.

We are happy to give some thoughts in this regard.

In any given society literature should reflect the true image or images of that society. To give an academic touch (as we are dealing with an elite group of distinguished people here) we would like to begin our disjointed thoughts with late Edward Said who wrote: "To value literature at all is fundamentally to value it as the individual work of an individual writer tangled up in circumstances taken for granted by everyone, such thing as residence, nationality, a familiar local, language 'and so on.' (Edward Said, Reflection on Exile and Other Essays, 2000, p.xv).

In our opinion, apart from reading a text of Sri Lanka's foremost writer Martin Wickramasinghe, we don't think that any Sri Lankan writer's text was discussed at a meaningful level at the 2008 GLF.

In our previous articles on the 2008 GLF, we have discussed about the exclusion, elitism that we notices as a key feature of this literary event which failed to involve (invite?) writers at large of our nation. By writer's at large we mean, those who write in Tamil and Sinhala and not those who frequently present their faces or are spoken about at the post-colonial literary conferences around the globe.

If the organisers of GLF are truly interested in continuing this foreign agent driven event again, then we would like them to consult people with local knowledge (and it doesn't matter whether they live, in Australia, Canada or even Iceland) how to present a more meaningful conference which would focus on 'individual work of an individual writer[s] tangled up in circumstances taken for granted by everyone,' as Edward Said had said.

To use Said's most famous contribution, we will not go into analyse the 'Orientalism' and associated issues we have noticed concerning the GLF.

We would like any foreign dignitaries who come to these festivals (at the expenses of 'cultural funds' meant for in-country projects whether using Australia or Canadian sources) to get themselves familiarised with our rich heritage of Sri Lankan literature.

There is a lot of work done by excellent translators such as Dr Lakshmi De Silva and Dr Ranjini Obeysekara in this regard. These marvellous (perhaps unrecognised) works include translations of ancient to modern Sinhala work and they are available in Colombo.

It is our view, the organising Committee of the GLF is either not aware or doesn't like to generate meaningful discussions about 'real' Sri Lankan literary texts in this foreign agent driven literary festival.

For example, we consider Dr Laksmi de Silva's translation of Sri Lankan poetry '12 Centuries of Sinhala Poetry' (Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2004) as a very good representation of Sri Lankan poetry and we have yet to find a similar one on Tamil poetry or prose from Sri Lanka.

This book provides a view of hitherto hidden territory, the highways and by-ways of Sinhala poetry. It presents many facets of what Yeats termed 'the craft of verse,' manymoods and modes of ancient and modern work.

On the other hand an Emeritus Professor of prestigious Princeton University, Dr Ranjini Obeyesekere had translated a variety of Sinhala texts including the Sadaharama Ratanavaliaya (Jewels of the Doctrine-Stories) to a most recent work of a translation of Yasodaravatha (the lament of Princess Yasodara).

There is more. Dr Ranjini Obeyesekere's book, Sri Lankan Theatre in a Time of Terror: Political Satire in a permitted space (Sage, 1999) is another important text. This book deals with the role of theatre in Sri Lanka during the decade of the 1980s, a period of intense political violence and anomie which was known locally as bhisana kalaya, or the "time of terror."

In our view, very important texts of this nature had not captured the minds of our critics or even local academic, but we are only too happy to discuss Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost and Sri Lankan terror represented from far distant land, a place called Toronto in Canada.

Our argument is that the GLF director Libby Southwell may not know any of these important texts or translations, hence will not invite our bi-lingual local scholars to the next GLF, let along at least to ask one of Sri Lanka's most famous poet and lyricist who live on the same venue as this widely acclaimed literary event which draws international talents to our tear drop island.

We live indeed in a crucial time. We hear discussions on Jack Derrida and Michel Foucault among the young Sri Lankans. And there are undecipherable jargon in pages of Sinhala newspapers and journals. We have noticed former poets now writing Operas for Sinhala audiences. These are some of the new trends in Sinhala literary circles. Could we involve these groups.

We are of the opinion that the organisers of the GLF could embrace a hybrid approach for 2009, where literature of both east and west are represented including a good sample of Tamil and Sinhala writings.

If this is not a feasible, then the organisers could explore other options. One option is venturing into another island nation to continue this elite and exclusive literary festival focusing on English writing of a chosen group!

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Creating harmony and understanding through creative writing

One of the regular features of both the Galle Literary Festivals, 2007 and 2008, was creative writing workshops for children in both national and provincial school of Galle and Matara conducted by the British Council.

Dr Neil Fernandopulle	Lal Medawattegedara

This year' workshops were conducted by Neil Fernandopulle (Gratian award winning author of Shrapnel) Lal Medawattegedara (Author: The Window Cleaner' Soul and Can You Hear me Running) and were held at the Uswathun Hasana Maha Vidyalaya, Katugoda.

Both workshops involved kids above the age of 9 and among the participating schools were Mahinda College, Sacred Heart Convent, Sangamittha Girls College, and St. Anthony' College, Baddegama.

According to both Lal and Neil, the objectives of the highly interactive workshops were many. 'he workshops promoted among many other things the concept of thinking beyond the box, creating an interest in the English language, creating an interest in English literature. We also concentrated on using literature and writing to break down barriers and create harmony?

The interactive workshops involved the participants analyzing literature, observing and capturing with words their own environment, discussing and exchanging ideas about being human and creating stories and plots under a controlled environment.

A student participant who had had a wonderful time at the workshop particularly thanked the British Council for conducting such workshops since similar workshops are rarely held in the provinces. "We have to come all the way to Colombo to learn creative writing," one participant said with a twinkle in her eye. "We are as good as Colombo kids when it comes to creative writing," one participant asserted with her typical Southern pride.

Both Lal and Neil spoke about brilliant talent displayed by some of the participants. "They have an unbelievable talent for story telling. Their stories captured a lot of reality from their own lives as well as hope and happiness which are common human traits."z

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Sri Lanka for the senses

Sri Lankan writing in English has its own distinctive aroma, savour and tang like the traditional Sri Lankan food. This premise was found lounging and wafting in the lobby of the Closenberg Hotel, on the pleasantly chilly Saturday night of 19th January 2008, when Sri Lanka's best selling author Ashok Ferry and three other Sri Lankan writers entertained a packed audience with excerpts from their work.

Vivimarie Vanderpoorten	Vijita Fernando	Ashok Ferry

The event featured Ashok Ferry (the best selling author of Colpetty People and The Good Little Ceylonese Girl); Senaka Abeyratne (Winner Gratian Prize 2006 & author Three Star K); Vivimarie Vanderpoorten (Author Nothing Prepares You) and Lal Medawattegedara (Author: The Window Cleaner's Soul and Can You Hear me Running). Gill Westaway (Director, British Council), Richard Reidy and Ashok Ferry were the readers who brought out the essence of these writers' work.

The evening was a given a roaring start with excerpts from Ashok's best selling work Colpetty People read By Gill Westaway. As Ashok's highly charged language and unpredictable and entertaining characters leapt off the page and mingled with the rhythm of the gently rocking coconut palms, the only thing the listeners could do was to be hypnotized.

Senaka Abeyratne's award winning work from his Gratian Prize winning book was the next feature. As the satirical and at times provocative dialogues from the play '3 Star K' unleashed subterranean psychic traumas of society and people at large the audience was driven in to a state of rumination and reflection.

Vivimarie Vanderpoorten, an acclaimed poet arrested the unconscious stream of thought of the audience with her poetry which featured a dramatic and rare blend of simplicity significance and sincerity. She read from her acclaimed book 'Nothing Prepares You' and the poem which was recently read out in Los Angeles at a felicitation function organized by the Human Rights Watch was given a lengthy applause.

Gill Westaway read from Lal Medawattegedara's new book 'Can You Hear me Running.' The book captures the human side of conflicts and Gill?s vocal interpretation of a boy trying to come term with a conflict within him was an emotionally charged moment for the audience.

Ashok Ferry and Gill came back to read from his critically acclaimed second book 'The Good Little Ceylonese Girl' whose seriousness, honesty, humor and stunningly crafted language combined create a permanent niche for Sri Lankan writing in the psyche of an appreciative audience of both natives and non-natives.

The colonial-style architecture of the Closenberg Hotel, with its sensuous pillars and unforgettable wonders of wood created a living backdrop for the readings as well as acoustics to absorb and reflect the subtle music of the writings.

It all came to a delicious ending with a buffet featuring really Sri Lankan cuisine with food ranging from Nelum Ala to Nivithi Mellum created with all due respects for the uniquely Sri Lankan traditions. All in all it was a dramatic evening of Sri Lanka for the mind (literature), taste buds (cuisine) and eye (architecture of Closenberg).