Unlike most academic meets, in this conference the number of creative writers almost equalled that of the critics. Readings and performances—some scheduled during the sessions and some done informally in the evenings—were the highpoints of the event held in the sprawling green campus of Sabaragamuwa university, surrounded by hills. Professor Ashley Halpe, Chairman Sri Lankan ACLALS and himself a poet, and the novelist Rajiva Wijesinha, Professor at the university which hosted the conference, were able to bring together some of the major Sri Lankan English writers for the occasion, including names familiar to us in India like Jean Arasanayagam and Carl Muller.

The conference began with readings by a few poets, well-known as well as new, followed by a wide-ranging yet incisive keynote address by Harish Trivedi. The next two papers focussed on Michael Ondaatje’s new novel Anil’s Ghost. In fact Anil’s Ghost hovered over the conference even when it was not being directly discussed. This understated and lyrical novel captures the quality of life in the strife-devastated island so chillingly that almost every Sri Lankan reader feels compelled to articulate a response to the novel in some way or another. The other reason for Ondaatje’s name being invoked was the Gratiaen Prize, an annual literary award for Sri Lankan English writing instituted by this expatriate, Toronto-based Sri Lankan writer with his Booker money. The number of Gratiaen awardees who read from their work at the conference—Tissa Abeysekara (also one of the leading film-makers of Sri Lanka) and Neil Fernandopulle (a micro-biologist by profession) being the most memorable of them—could keep the readers spellbound long past the scheduled lunch hour. It is a pity that we know so little of the vigorous literary activity going on in the neighbouring island. Alas, books published in Sri Lanka do not get distributed even in India—not to speak of the world market.

Jeanne Thwaite was another remarkable writer to read from her work, and Aparna Halpe’s rendering from Thwaite’s short stories had an even greater impact. Two young academics spoke on Ruth Prawar Jhabvala and Chandani Lukage (a new Sri Lankan novelist/academic living in Australia). There was an entire session on ‘The Writer and History’, where Carl Muller and Gaston Perera shared with the audience their experiences of fictionalising Sri Lankan history. The relationship between Sinhala and English came up for discussion in the papers of Chandana Dissanayake and Madhubhasini Ratnayake, one emphasizing the linguistic and the other the literary aspect of this co-existence.

In addition to papers on literature and language, there were lively performances by a street theatre group, a solo dramatic presentation in Tamil by an academic/social activist, and poems, stories and songs by many. Sabaragamuwa is one of the newest universities in Sri Lanka, but perhaps also one of the most active—judging by the dynamism of the Dean who not only looked after the material comforts of the participants but presented a spirited paper, and the enthusiasm of the staff and students who contributed in several ways. The other participants came from Kandy and Colombo—four or five hours drive by winding hilly roads. The three Indian participants were sponsored by the Indian Cultural Centre in Colombo.

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