Colombo Scope 2013 kicked off its inaugural 3 day event calendar with the announcement of the 2012 Gratiaen Prize shortlist at the Park Street Mews on the 22^nd of March.

The Gratiaen Prize, Sri Lanka’s most coveted literary award for writing in English by a Sri Lankan celebrates its 20^th anniversary this year. The esteemed panel of judges, comprising of Chairperson Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, Mr. Lynn Ockersz and Ms. Sivamohan Sumathy, had the difficult task of selecting the five authors from around sixty submissions which included fiction, poetry, drama, and literary memoirs, either published during the last year or presented in manuscript form .

The five authors selected for the shortlist are:

·         Rizvina Morseth de Alwis for her unpublished novel, ‘It’s Not in the Stars’

·         Ruwanthie de Chikera and Nadie Kammallaweera for their unpublished drama, Kalumaali - a fairy tale for grownups.

·         Lal Medawattegedera for his unpublished novel, Playing Pillow Politics at MGK.

·         Malinda Seneviratne for his published poetry, Open Words are for Love Letting.

·         Saroj Sinnetamby for her unpublished novel, The Professional.

The five authors took to the stage for a quick word of thanks before excerpts from their work was read out, providing those in the audience a small insight as to why these authors were chosen for the shortlist. The award which will be held on the 4^th of May will recognize one of the five writers as the winner of the prestigious 2012 Gratiaen Prize.

While the night was dedicated to the Gratiaen Prize shortlist, it was also the opening night of the Colombo Scope 2013. Stalls were set up around the venue offering novels by local authors for sale, while an exhibition of paintings an installations ran alongside it.

Most of Colombo’s literati were in attendance for this free event and while it was encouraging to see many known faces in the crowd, it does however pose a problem for curator Ashok Ferrey who promised that unlike other festivals in the island, Colombo Scope would not just be for the elite Colombo crowd but would be opened for all those interested in the creative arts.

Keeping in mind this was only the first day of the event, here’s hoping for a much more diverse crowd for the coming days.

By Lake Argent

Pics by Kithsiri de Mel