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| Sunday, 6 November 2005 |
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Features |  |
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First book
buzz in Kandy
by Ranga Chandrarathne
A much awaited literary event was held in Kandy featuring the Sri Lankan writers in English which took place at the British Council Library in Kandy on Saturday October 22. The authors Ashok Ferrey and Lal Medawattegedera (both short listed for the Gratiaen Award) were featured at the event. The event consisted of interactive readings of the best sellers "Colpetty People" and "The Window Cleaner's Soul". Book buzz is an exclusive series of events dedicated to Sri Lankan writers. Each event features two Sri Lankan writers whose works are included in the British Council sponsored website www.writeclique.net. This was the first ever book buzz held in Kandy. Conducted by the British Council in collaboration with C&G Associates wasattended by the Mayor of Kandy, young writers, young professionals, English teachers, school and university students. Branch Manager in Kandy Nick Kendall, introduced the event, which is part of the British Council's animating literature project. He said the objective of the event was to involve young writers in creative writing and join the British Council sponsored website writeclique. Ashok Ferry, Vivimarie Medawattegedera and Nimmi Harasgama (a young Sri Lankan actress) read excerpts from Ashok's bestselling book, 'Colpetty People', with perhaps the highlight of the evening being Nimmi's animated renditions of 'Ice cream Karma' and the nightmarish nanny in 'Agnes of God'. Ashok Ferry, said that though the stories looked funny, they were social satires highlighting the shortcomings of the society. The book will encourage the readers to look at themselves and how they would behave in similar situations while laughing at the behaviours of the characters in the book. There are many funny stories relating to the author's personal experience. Ferry himself drew sketches for the short stories. 'Well, I left the tea, I left the chips, I went for Agnes. I had visions of a virginal girl in a brown pinafore, St. Theresa the Little Flower perhaps, or Bernadette. Instead there was this middle-aged woman, nut brown, with straggling grey hair and shrewd eyes. But it was the teeth that struck you first: teeth that flew out at you like bats out of the mouth of a cave, almost parallel to the ground, low and welcoming. "Mango-sucking teeth" said Sweena by way of explanation. Once the readings were over, Ashok answered questions from the audience, explaining that 'Colpetty People' looks at a cross-section of Sri Lankan society and that the situations that are described in his stories, whilst not representing any particular people are driven to some extent from personal experience. After a short break, Lal Medawattegedera was introduced to the audience. Lal's collection of short stories, 'The Window Cleaner's Soul' deals with people on the periphery of society, such as cleaners, prostitutes, delivery boys and labourers. Vivimarie and Ashok brought life to the stories, one of which deals humorously with a young man forced to wear a blazer to his own wedding, by his domineering wife. "But Samare's worst tribulation with the blazer came when the newly married couple walked up to the buffet table. While helping himself to spoonfuls of chicken curry, Samare realised the end of his sleeve was gingerly dipping into the curry tray. "There was no way he could have prevented this because his hands were fully occupied - one held the plate while the other held the serving spoon. He quietly withdrew from the chicken curry and moved over to the next dish in line "batu pehi"... Samare consciously bent down to serve himself and the blazer edge smoothly dived into the tempered batu pehi. Right along the buffet table Samare's blazer got the taste of almost every single dish, from dhal to devilled potatoes. By the time he went back to the dining room with his wife, his blazer sleeve-edge was a veritable fountain of curry colours." In his question and answer session, Lal spoke about the importance of representing people not normally included in literature in his work and about the need to address serious issues that people are sometimes hesitant to bring out. |
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