Shortlists announced!

The Fairway National Literary Awards (FNLA) 2016 Shortlists were announced at a ceremony held at the Hilton Colombo Residences (JAIC Hilton) recently.

The shortlisted authors will receive a cash award of Rs. 100,000 each while the eventual winner in each language category will receive a net cash award of Rs 500 000 each.

(From left) Tissa Devendra (member of the English judging panel), S. Pathmanathan (member of the Tamil judging panel), Prof. Piyaseeli Wijemanne (member of the Sinhala judging panel), Kavinda Dias-Abeysinghe, Deputy Chairman of Fairway Holdings, Dr. Dharmasena Pathiraja (member of the Sinhala judging panel), Prof. Sitralega Maunaguru (member of the Tamil judging panel), Dr. Vivimarie Vander Poorten (member of the English judging panel) and Anomaa Rajakaruna, Co-ordinator of the FNLA.

The Sinhala language category panel of judges comprises the renowned film director Dr. Dharmasena Pathiraja, Krishantha Fedricks, an academic specializing in linguistic anthropology, and the well-known short story writer, Prof Piyaseeli Wijemanna. The panel of judges for the Tamil language entries are; Prof Emeritus Sitralega Maunaguru, S. Pathmanathan, former Principal of Palaly Training College and better known as the poet and translator 'Sopa,' and Prof Mohamed Abdulla Mohamed Rameez, Prof of Tamil Language at the South Eastern University. The English language category's panel of judges comprises the distinguished former civil servant and author, Tissa Devendra, Dr Vivimarie Vander Poorten, an acclaimed poet and academic, and novelist and Commonwealth Book Prize Winner Nayomi Munaweera. These distinguished judges will, over the coming months, select the winners in each language category, the announcement of which will take place in January 2017 at the Fairway Galle Literary Festival, one of the most popular literary festivals in the world.

The Fairway National Literary Awards are sponsored by Fairway Holdings with the goal of encouraging, recognizing and rewarding Sri Lankan creative writing excellence.