By Melina Jaimon
The 14th Annual Gratiaen prize concluded last night, with two authors, Seneka Abeyratne and Isankya Kodituwakku walking away with the coveted prize.
It was the 6th time since the inception of the awards in 1993 that two authors had to share the prize in recognition for outstanding creative writing.
Senaka Abeyratne received the prize for his drama, “Three Star K” which dealt mainly with the theme of domestic violence. Isankya Kodituwakku touched on the topic of war and its untold stories in her short story collection “The Banana Tree crisis.”
The panel of judges for the Gratiaen prize were, Vivimarie VanderPoorten, Neil Fernandopulle and Priyanthi Fernando. Head of the panel of judges, Vivimarie VanderPoorten, speaking about the work of Senaka Abeyratne said the author revealed the stark gender stereotyping in “an uncomfortable domestic setting.” Speaking about the work of Isankya Kodituwakku, Ms.VanderPoorten said, “The writer is never an outsider and empathetically spoke about the untold stories of war.”
Senaka Abeyratne, thrice nominated for the Gratiaen prize and third time lucky, speaking about his success this time said, “Creative writing is wonderful for the development of the mind and it demands discipline. Writing for me is a hobby for creative expression, it gives you the ability to stretch your imagination.” Senaka was previously short listed for “Judgement of Fugue” (1993) and “Mad People” (2005).
Isankya Kodituwakku, was not present to receive her award as she is reading for a degree in the University of Columbia. Her sister, Manikya Kodituwakku, who received the award in her place said, “My sister was always full of stories and would often read me bedtime stories, she wanted me to say that it was an honour for her to be shortlisted for the awards.” The awards ceremony also saw the H.A.I Goonetileke Prize for translation awarded to Kumari Goonesekere for the text, “The Hour When the Moon Weeps”, for translating the text of Liyanage Amarekeerthi. The panel of judges for that prize were Prof. Arjuna Parakrama, Dr.Sumathy Sivamohan and S.M.L. Marikar.