Anula, compulsive writing over 50 years

By R.S. Karunaratne

Seasoned journalist and reputed author Anula de Silva will be felicitated at the National Library and Documentation Services Board auditorium, Colombo 7 on March 3 at 3.30 p.m. The felicitation ceremony is organised by Sooriya Publishers.

Anula de Silva, a compulsive author can translate or write an original novel just in three months. She showed signs of a budding writer at a very young age. Even as a schoolgirl she was fascinated by women writers such as Sriya Ratnakara, Eva Ranaweera, Sumana Saparamadu, Sybil Wettasinghe and Hema Gunawardena. She determined to follow in their footsteps despite her parents' wishes to the contrary.

She was in her teens when she went to the University of Peradeniya to read for an arts degree. It was the heyday of Peradeniya University with Prof Ediriweera Sarachchandra striding the literary arena like a colossus. As an undergraduate she attended his Literary Appreciation Circle where everybody had the chance of presenting their poems and short stories for comments by eminent professors and lecturers.

Anula presented her maiden short story Jeevitha Ashava to the Literary Appreciation Circle not knowing what comments she would receive. Some of the lecturers tore it into pieces calling it a "worthless attempt" at short story writing. However, Tissa Kariyawasam who was a lecturer then said that it was not an unsuccessful short story giving his reasons. He said that the short story showed the talents of a budding writer. Prof Sarachchandra too agreed with Kariyawasam and Anula felt herself anointed as a writer.

With the unexpected encouragement she received from the two university dons, Anula started writing her first novel Unmattakaya based on her village life down south. It was serialised in the Rividina published by the now defunct Davasa Group of Newspapers. It was the first novel to be serialised in Rividina.

Some time later, the novel was published in 1964 with a foreword by Dr Gunadasa Amarasekera who himself is an eminent novelist and literary critic.

Critics

To her astonishment, most critics condemned the novel in newspaper reviews. However, Benedict Dodampegama, a celebrated literary critic, praised the novel in a review published in an English newspaper. After graduation, Anula wanted to join a newspaper group to work as a full-time journalist. However, her conservative parents insisted that she should take up teaching. To please their wishes she accepted a teaching post in a government school. However, she did not enjoy teaching as her ambition was to become a journalist. She resigned from her teaching post and started sending applications to newspaper organisations.

The first break came from the Davasa Newspaper Group. She was thrilled when she was called for an interview. However, she got a mild shock when Davasa Editor D. B. Dhanapala told her that he did not want to recruit a graduate for a low salary.

Then she applied for a teaching post again. While engaged in teaching she kept on looking for an opening in a newspaper organisation. As luck would have it, she was called for a written test at Lake House.

Interview

Subsequently, she was called for an interview. When she attended the interview on the specified day, she was told that it had been postponed.

Then she kicked up a row with an official for wasting her time and money and returned home.

They say God works in mysterious ways. After three days she received her letter of appointment as the Assistant Editor of Mihira, the children's paper. She felt as if she were on cloud nine.

At 75 Anula looks back with contentment. She has written 100 books in 50 years. That is no mean achievement.