Many facets of fiction

Literature has many facets. Those facets may be found expressions in their diverse genres and tropes employed by different writers. Yet, what is primary is the message that is encoded in the creations rather than the manner in which individual writers approach it. However, in commercial terms, skin as well as flesh of a creation is important to win over a readership and to establish a creation in the literary market. After all, beauty of a creation may be skin-deep but the flesh or substance would make it an enduring literary legacy In this exclusive interview with Montage, American author Pablo D’ Stair discusses diverse authors, literary genres and his encounter with their distinctly different creations.

Full Story

Geoffrey Hill and the art of difficult poetry

Geoffrey Hill is one of the most important poets writing in English to day. The distinguished literary critic and theorist Harold Bloom has said that Hill is the strongest British poet now alive. At the same time, Bloom recognizes the fact that he is a formidably difficult poet. As he remarked, 'confronted by Hill's best poems, a reader is at first tempted to run away, for the intellectual difficulty of the rugged, compressed verse is more than matched by the emotional painfulness and directness of hill's vision.' Another critic has said that A.N.

Full Story

A pioneer in language education

This week’s column is dedicated to W.H Samaranayake, a pioneer Sri Lankan educationist and grammarian who had made his mark in the postcolonial language education in Sri Lanka. Samaranayake’s role as a pioneer educationist in general and as a compiler of text books on English Grammar in particular marks a seminal chapter in the history of post –colonial education in Sri Lanka.

Full Story