Festschrift for Prof. Ashley Halpe

A festschrift volume dedicated to Prof. Ashley Halpe titled Arbiters of National Imaginary: Essays on Sri Lanka - Festschrift for Professor Ashley Halpe, edited by Chelva Kanaganayagam will be launched at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations Auditorium on December 9 at 5.30 p.m.

The essays that make up this volume were written as a tribute to the scholarship, career, creative talent, and profound humanity of Prof. Halpe.

One of the striking aspects of Halpe's contribution is his commitment to inter-disciplinarity and to comparative studies. Although many of his research articles deal with literature in English, his translations, his paintings, and his own poetry suggest a much larger vision that perceived connections across fields, languages, religions, and ethnic groups. Contributors to this volume are Tissa Jayatilaka, Thiru Kandiah, Ranjini Obeysekere, Robert Crusz, Carl Muller, Ashley Halpe, Jayantha Dhanapala, Qadri Ismail, Rienzi Crusz, R. Cheran, Michael Ondaatje, Ernest Macintyre, Chandani Lokuge, Tissa Abeysekara, M. A. Nuhman, Jill Macdonald, Sivamohan Sumathy, Harish Trivedi, Aparna Halpe and Chelva Kanaganayagam.