Michael Ondaatje and the Gratiaen Prize
In this week’s column, I would like to explore some issues pertaining
to the literary awards in Sri Lanka and their overarching influence on
the quality of Sri Lankan English writings. This week’s focus is on the
Gratiaen Prize (GP) which is supposed to be a standard setter.
Among other things, I would like to explore whether the Gratiaen
Prize since its inception has lived up to its objectives and has been a
standard setter or has it, in effect, deteriorated the literary
standard.
One of the fundamental issues confronting Sri Lankan literary scene
is the integrity of literary awards. As I have already dealt with it in
the previous week’s column, one of the predominant factors, which
preserves the integrity of the Nobel Prize for literature and the Booker
Prize, is their selection process which ensures high degree of integrity
and transparency. What is questionable in most of the literary awards in
Sri Lanka is the absence of a rigorous selection process which is open
and transparent.
Genesis of Gratiaen Prize
In this regard, it is pertinent to look at the genesis of the
Gratiaen Prize and the motives of its founder, the literary giant
Michael Ondaatje.
“The Gratiaen Prize is an attempt on one level to share the wealth. I
was lucky. But more important it is to celebrate and test and trust
ourselves. To select and argue about the literature around us. To take
it seriously, not just to see it as a jewel or a decoration.” states
Michael Ondaatje himself about the Gratiaen Prize .
If the objective of the founder of the GP is to take Sri Lankan
literature in English and not to see it as a jewel or a decoration, the
core issue with the GP is whether it has over the years served the
objective and aspirations of its founder.
“The Gratiaen Prize, which was instituted by Michael Ondaatje in 1992
with the money he received as the joint-winner of the Booker Prize for
his novel The English Patient, is awarded annually to the best work of
literary writing in English by a resident Sri Lankan. The Prize,
intended to encourage English writing by Sri Lankans, is named after
Michael Ondaatje’s mother, Doris Gratiaen. Initially, the Prize was
administered by Ian Goonetileke, the former librarian, University of
Ceylon, Peradeniya, but later handed over to the Gratiaen Trust, which
was set up for the purpose.
The three judges selected each year by the Trust make their choice
from an increasing number of entries – in the past few years over 50 –
submitted by authors and publishers. The entries include fiction,
poetry, drama and literary memoir, either published during the last year
or presented in manuscript form. Initially a short-list of five is
chosen, and the winner is announced at the Gratiaen Prize award event.
The value of the Prize is Sri Lankan Rupees 200, 000,”states the
official website of the Gratiaen Foundation in introducing the prize.
Shortlisted
In 1993, the very first year of the Gratiaen Prize, the co-winner of
the prize were The Jam Fruit Tree by Carl Muller and Wind Blows Over the
Hills by Lalitha Withanachchi while Senaka Abeyratne’s Fragments of a
Fugue , Homing and Other Poems by Ashley Halpe and Dari the 3rd Wife by
Sita Kulatunga were shortlisted.
In the following year, the winner was Amulet by Punyakante Wijenaike
and Madara by Soma Jayakoddy (translated by V. Fernando), What Will you
Do Do Do Clara, What Will you do? by Eva Ranaweera, Saga Indonesia by
Manel Ranatunga and The Alms Giving and other Plays by Regi Siriwardena
were shortlisted.
In 1996, the winner was Bringing Tony Home by Tissa Abeysekara and
The High Chair and Cancer Days by Sita Kulatunga, With Maya by Eva
Ranaweera and The Lost Lenore by Regi Siriwardena were shortlisted.
In 2009, Mythil's Secret by Prashani Rambukwella was the winner of
the Gratiaen Prize while The Whirlwind by Ayathurai Santhan, Tangled
Threads by Premini Amerasinghe, Singing of the Angels by T. Arasanayagam
and The Mirror of Paradise by Asgar Hussein were shortlisted
If one uses random sampling method for looking at the Gratiaen Prize
and the winners and the shortlisted books, what is problematic the
motives of the selection and the integrity of both the panel of judges
and the Gratiaen Prize itself.
In my view, going by its track record that Gratiaen Prize’s primary
consideration is not the literary value of the entries but some
mysterious criteria which change from year to year by and large,
depending on the panel of judges. Some of the outstanding literary
creations were rejected for the simple reason that the setting was not
in Sri Lanka.
According to the rules of the Gratiaen Prize and the eligibility
criteria, “The prize will be awarded for the best work of creative
writing in English by a Sri Lankan citizen resident in Sri Lanka”. There
is absolutely no clause in the eligibility criteria that the literary
creation submitted for the Gratiaen Prize by a Sri Lankan Citizen
Resident in Sri Lanka should be set against Sri Lanka.
In 1993, the prize was awarded to The Jam Fruit Tree by Carl Muller
and Wind Blows Over the Hills by Lalitha Withanachch while Dari the 3rd
Wife by Sita Kulatunga was shortlisted. Dari the 3rd Wife was
purportedly rejected on the ground that it was not set against Sri
Lanka, totally disregarding its literary value.
One of the salient features of the GP is that winning entry /entries
are very often of lesser literary value than the shortlisted entries.
Some of the examples are 2007 Gratiaen Prize winning entry Nothing
Prepares You by Vivemarie Vanderpoorten and 2009 winner Mythil's Secret
by Prashani Rambukwella.
In 2007, the shortlisted entries were A Map and a Compass Moon by
Ramya Chamalie Jirasinghe, Sylphlike Ether by Chamali Kariyawasam,
Threads by Malinda Seneviratne and Like Myth and Other by Sivamohan
Sumathy. What remains mysterious are “Nothing Prepares You” on the part
of judges and ‘Mythil's Secret’ of the prize which among other things ,
ensures that no writer or poet of the calibre of Michael Ondaatje would
ever emerge from Sri Lanka.
Would it be the ulterior motive of the Gratiaen Prize?
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