Montage from readers' perspective

The Montage - A rare kind of local and global literary supplement from Sri Lanka

The Montage; the Literary and Art supplement of the Sunday Observer; a rare kind of local and global literary supplement from Sri Lanka completed its first anniversary last week. Having left the Sri Lankan shores over two decades ago, for many years, I didn't have an opportunity to learn news, trends and even important gossips of Sri Lankan literary scene until I established contacts with the dynamic editors of the Montage.

Sunil Govinnage

For me, the Montage acts as a magic carpet enabling me to roam from the comforts of my Australian home to Colombo via the Internet as it allows me to pick up news, features, interviews with local and international scholars and reviews of new books, films, and theatre that Ranga Chandrarathne and Indeewara Thilakarathne publish weekly with their meticulous attention, research and care. I enjoy reading the Montage weekly while enjoying our traditional Sri Lankan breakfast, kiri bath my wife, Upulmali cooks on weekends.

Almost every week, I go to bed on Saturday evenings for my Sunday awakenings by reading Wimal Dissanayake's and other rich columns appearing on the Montage. Kalakeerthi Edwin Ariyadasa's column is another rare fruit I have with my breakfast on Sunday mornings.

Kalakeerthi Edwin Ariyadasa's continuous writings to the Montage suggest not only his agile mind but his incredible journalistic skills still running on an upward curve. As Ajith Samaranayake once wrote, Ariyadasa has an ability to roam "beyond the galaxies and the stratosphere and reach out to the stars." Ranga's and Indeewara's ability to attract this galaxy roaming senior journalist who started his illustrious career at Lake House in the 1950s to enlighten the modern readers of the 21st Centuary is a remarkable achievement and indeed a real bonus to the Montage readers.

Reading the weekly column by Professor Wimal Dissanayake who writes on various topics is like a window to known and unknown territories to me.

Every week, I pick up the Montage to read Wimal's column like consuming a healthy nutritional supplement that feeds my brain neurons along with my traditional Sri Lankan breakfast providing nourishment to my thin knowledge on global and local issues covering literature, cinema and poetry.

Wimal has a rare ability to write on a variety of subjects whether he roams freely between deconstructive gymnastics of Derrida or writing insightful comments on the novels of the Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee or works of Martin Wickremasinghe. Similalry, Wimal can bring poets of various kinds such as Seamus Heaney, John Hollander, William Blake, Charles Bernstein and our own Gunadasa Amarasekara through his carefully crafted words to provide a rich and rare feast to the readers.

I hope before the second anniversary of the Montage, the Lake House will be able to publish a special Montage publication or two including the selected columns of Professor Wimal Dissanayake and Ariyadasa's writings in book form.

In my opinion, the Montage has opened up hitherto unexplored spheres and aspect of global and regional writers and poets such as Asia's foremost English poet, Edwin Thumboo; Bagdad-born Hebrew poet Ronny Someck; and Sri Lankan born Malaysian writer and academic Lloyd Fernando.

The recent series on Latin American writings by Ms Claudia Anderson's essays provide a good overview of writers and writings about Latin American literature.

I am waiting for the day both Ranga and Indeewara find and motivate a gifted writer cum analyst who has an ability to identify and understand relevant works of great Sri Lankan writers including Piyadasa Sirisena, Kumaratunga Munidasa, Martin Wickramasinghe, Ediriweera Sarathchandra and Gunadasa Amarasekara and to explore how Sri Lankan writers and intellectuals have shaped the souls and minds of generations in the context of social, cultural and political changes that have shaped Sri Lanka in a globalised milieu.

If this happens, it could be another unique and popular Montage publication that the global, national and local readers of the Montage would find very useful.

Sunil Govinnage, Australia

Unbiased and fearless

I have been reading the 'Montage' Cultural Paradigm with uninterrupted and keen interest. Among all other cultural and literary supplements in Sri Lankan newspapers, this one stands out with characteristic qualities.

Its editors evince rare critical acumen. Their critical judgment is highly principled, unbiased and fearless. They do a lot to explicate cultural events and literary works and thereby to correct taste. They also function as cross fertilisers of ideas trying to bridge the gap between the Sinhala and English streams of discourse. So far the Sinhala literary works were isolated from the English reading public and vice versa.

My only regret is the inability on the part of most of the Sinhala readers to read this valuable and enlightening supplement. I wish all the best for the future success and development of this important supplement which is critical, instructive and explanatory.

- Professor Sucharita Gamlath

Best wishes and congratulations

My best wishes and congratulations to the editors of Montage, the Cultural Paradigm of the Sunday Observer on the first anniversary of their publication. It was a fortuitous encounter with Ranga Chandrarathne and Indeewara Thilakarathne at a literary award ceremony in Colombo and my conversation with these two very talented young men brought me into contact with Montage which they edited and which I was eager to discover. Had I not met them and spoken with them about their writings and interests I would have missed out on many new revelations. When I returned to Kandy I began reading Montage every Sunday and found much to interest me in a new world I was yet to discover. I was also happy to read the Vignettes and book reviews of R.S. Karunaratne. Montage has given me many new insights into art, culture, music and the work of writers of fiction and poetry not only in our island with its focus on specific areas of our culture but also writings from other countries.

It was very interesting for me to read Ranga's translations into English of Itipahan and Agni Chakra. I had once seen the tele drama Itipahan and had been very impressed by it.

I would never have had the opportunity of reading the books themselves indepth unless they had been translated into English. I also look forward to Indeewara's very perceptive and well researched articles on diverse aspects of language, linguistics, literature and Sri Lankan writers.

It is also interesting that these two young men share the experiences of the literary conferences they have been present at in Singapore and their encounters with many writers and scholars especially Prof. Edwin Thumboo. I enjoyed reading the serialization of Sunil Govinnage's The Black Australian. I find Professor Wimal Dissanayake's column on literature, post modernism et al extremely elightening. Many things he comments on take me back to the time I met Derrida, Said, Widdowsen and many other scholars abroad in the course of my post graduate studies.

Ranga's interviews too are of special interest and I do derive a lot of pleasure from reading Indeewara's and his comments on poetry. What is interesting is that the poems are not restricted to Sri Lankan poetry alone but also use talented poets from other countries. The editors are well informed and knowledgeable and write not merely for the sake of writing for a local journal. They are passionately interested in what they are committed and dedicated in doing. I continue to look forward to reading Montage especially with the new writers who contribute like Latin American literature.

May Montage go on from strength to strength.

Jean Arasanayagam

Cultural mainland

It is a great pleasure to note that Montage is reaching its first Birthday on this day. Without any hesitation I congratulate its architect whoever it may have been. Montage indeed is a cultural mainland for artists' interests of critical expressions and creations. One that you cannot miss in Montage is Professor Wimal Dissanayake's continuing educative and critical presentations on various interesting subject matter under the heading "Encounters". It really is one that cannot be missed for its cultural and creative approach of the writer. So are of Edwin Ariyadasa and the author of the Cultural Scene. At the same time no reader can also forget the venue that had been provided for the serious novelists to display their significant works paving the way for the cultivation of the critical and appreciative bearings of the readers. Presentation of the Cultural Diary of daily events and the budding poets' poems with an analysis are again novelties that Montage has to its credit. I for one wish that from the second year that yet another novel page is introduced for theatre and cinema alone for it to become a ground of critical debates on the subjective arts. Besides it's a Journal which serves various aspects of arts that a literary society craves to nourish in, and it is my belief that it will fatten to be more a healthier Journal with more pages for a variety of articles to go into that will provide food for serious thoughts amongst its readers.

Well Done Montage. Congratulations. Keep the Flag flying.

- Namel Weeramuni

Congratulations

I would like to congratulate Montage on their first anniversary for the excellent articles it publishes which appeal to the younger generation of readers and writers. I find the articles and poems to be most interesting and significant for our time and age. I would like to thank Ranga for publishing a review on my writings. I find his articles on music and literature to be most interesting. I also find his translations to be very interesting and significant too. I also find Indeewara's articles to be interesting to. I also find the book reviews of R.S. Karunaratne to be insightful too.

I wish Ranga and Indeewara all the very best and look forward to reading Montage for the future years to come.

- Parvathi Arasanayagam

Fantastic supplement

On the first anniversary of Montage, I would like to congratulate the Editors, regular writers and guest contributors to this section of the Sunday Observer. Indeewara, Ranga, Professor Wimal Dissanayake and Mr Karunaratne are among those whose regular columns have helped to make this a first class Sunday newspaper. All the contributors have raised awareness of culture, art and literature to a new level. This can only serve to enrich the experience of those who regularly read the newspaper and I know that many people wait with anticipation for Sunday to come around again ! Ranga and Indeewara work tirelessly to ensure that the material which appears in Montage is of the highest quality and covers the broadest spectrum of subjects. I wish these hard working editors and all contributors the very best as they continue their valuable endeavours. Thank you for this fantastic supplement and keep up the good work. Bonne anniversaire !

- Madeleine Wightman