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FGLF 2017 Day 2

Jan 16 2017.

Ashok Ferry and Nayomi Munaweera

Reputed Sri Lankan novelists, Ashok Ferry and Nayomi Munaweera paired together to talk on their new novels.

A gripping crime novel, Nayomi Munaweera’s new book ‘What Lies Between Us’ is a confession of a woman who has committed the ultimate sin driven by the demons of her past.

In contrast, Ashok Ferry’s ‘The Ceaseless Chatter of Demons’ is a satirical novel mixing Sri Lankan and American cultures.

On the surface the only thing in common between the two novels appears to be the destinations the novels take place in. But as the session continued, between the two novelists explaining their new stories, similarities between the books began to rise to the surface.

Between Ashok and Nayomi, the duet struck a perfect blend of conversation that had the audience members in fits of laughter as they actively engaged and discussed the themes in their books.

We spoke to some of the audience members who attended the session to gather a few comments;

“It was a very good session. Ashok’s reading was exciting and he’s such an excellent story teller and we just love his sense of humour. Personally I haven’t read any of Nayomi’s work but I think she did a great job as well.” – Vindya

“I really enjoyed the readings done by both Ashok and Nayomi. Ashok was hilarious and entertaining” – Palitha

“I think the two of them really struck a good balance in explaining the content in their books as well as their life experiences. I thought the session was great!” – Maneesha

“I think it’s great to have Sri Lankan authors who tie our country to their books. When they do that I think there’s a sense of ownership” – Shruthi

“I think that both are really incredible authors and they write so beautifully about Sri Lankans living in the diaspora” – Yoshi

“I really enjoyed it. I’ve read all of Ashok’s books and he just seemed so friendly and open. It was a great session” – Mathew

Colm Toibin

Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic and poet, Colm Toibin is the author of the famous novel (now movie) ‘Brooklyn’.

At a session held at the Festival, he spoke in depth about his novel ‘The Master’ and what a novelist needs. ‘The Master’ is the story of Henry James who travels Europe among artists and writers as he attempts to become a successful writer.

A drama about a drama and a writer writing about a writer, Colm Toibin engaged in a lively discussion about how it felt to write a novel about a writer attempting to write a novel. He shed light on his perspective of the duel between Henry James and Oscar Wilde who criticised him for writing "fiction as if it were a painful duty”.

“The thing about writing a novel” Toibin says, “is that you don’t see your audience judging your writing!”

Between moderator Ashok Ferry and author Colm Toibin, the session carried on with light hearted conversation discussing Toibin’s work and what it takes to be a novelist.

We spoke to some of the audience members who attended the session to gather a few comments;

“I thought it was very informative” – Marianne

“It was hilarious! Quite interesting to see a novelist write about another novelist. Listening to his reading of experts from the book I just loved his use of language.” – Shelly

“It was interesting. I watched the movie Brooklyn and decided to come to this session and I’m glad I did!” – Moana

“I liked how he identified his characters. I was really taken away” – Ramna

Dom Mee

“I went from being a dead man to being a man alive. I had a short window to get out alive and I took it”

Dom Mee is an ex-Royal Marine, an arctic explorer, maritime security expert and now a novelist. His novel, ‘Kiting the Hurricane’ is a thrilling story of his epic adventure as he attempts to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a kite-powered boat.

On his journey, he becomes trapped in the sea enduring the tail end of 5 hurricanes including one of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the USA, Hurricane Katrina. “With greatest difficulty I rode out one hurricane only to encounter another and then another and then another”

At his talk at the Festival, Dom unfolded his story with a series of slides that captivated the true essence of his story. He spoke about endurance and finding the will to survive, not just through hurricanes but through sinking boats and an eminent shark attack.

He openly spoke about his mentality during his journey, what helped him power through and what it took for him to write this book.

After a massive round of applause from the audience, we caught up with Dom Mee to gather his thoughts about the success of his session,

“I’m absolutely bawled over and flattered” he said, “It was such a lovely audience and I’m so pleased to have been able to share my stories with them.”

We also spoke to some of the audience members who attended the session to gather a few comments;

“I am so speechless and amazed. It was a lovely session” – Indrani

“It was superb” – Lilani

“It was such a crazy story. I’m just sunned at the ending. It was absolutely incredible to listen to that’ – Stephany

“It was fascinating and inspiring the courage and the perseverance he had during that journey was just inspiring” – Shehara

“Enjoyed it. I was really taken up by the story” - O. Mendis

In Conversation: Anuk Arudpragasam on The Story of a Brief Marriage

The session began with a powerful poetry performance by Malika Booker. She performed a few of her pieces that left the audience mesmerized. They were honest and straightforward pieces that tackled battles of everyday life and women.

A striking personality she took time after the session to speak to us exclusively:

“I was invited to perform by the British Council and can’t be happier because of my love for spicy food, jewellery and scarfs. I am in the perfect place to do some shopping! I am greatly enjoying my stay here. Currently I am working on my next collection of poems and conducting sessions for school children whenever possible.”

Anuk Arupragasam was interviewed by Smriti Daniel. Together they explored his work as thoroughly as possible and left the whole audience wanting to read his book. Anuk frankly stated that it was an “attempt at understanding and not a representation of experiences.”

His first reading created a gruesome picture of war that many of us try to overlook which was also in fact the first pages of his book. The audience was speechless and everyone who hadn’t read the book till them was convinced to do so. After the session many immediately bought the book and lined up in front of him to get it signed.

Life Online spoke to a few in the audience to get their feedback:

Milhana

“I enjoyed the reading. It was gruesome but touching.”

Shruti Patel

“The writing was truthful and amazing as it was outside of his own experiences.”

Natasha Karunaratne

“He was brutally honest but in a good way. I live in the states but is originally from Sri Lanka. His story helped me understand that I was not alone feeling displaced away from the first hand experiences of war.”

Dominika Pasterska

“He was very good and surprised that he is so young. I am very impressed”

Amanti De Soyza

“He was brutally honest and approached the issues of war from a completely different and new angle.”

Raneesha

“He was very honest and dealt with an issue in his first novel that others have not yet.”

Nelani

“I enjoyed Malaika’s poetry reading.”

“Written with full insight for a young author. It seemed like he had been through it himself. Very well-articulated.” – Piyum Perera

Photographs by Damith Wickremasinghe

Workshop: Catherine Bush on ‘Mastering Three Crucial Aspects of Writing’

Catherine Bush directs the creative writing programme at the University of Guelph in Canada. She shared her knowledge and expertise with conducting the workshop for a small group of people both young and old, which allowed her to give one on one feedback and answer all their questions. They engaged in small writing exercises that challenged them but also helped them to see things differently. She focused on three main areas: accessing emotion, paying attention to the world and working with formal constraints.

Life Online spoke to Catherine Bush herself after the workshop:

“The participants were engaging and very interactive. Everyone took part in the exercises. Everyone is unique and comes from different places. The idea was that each one learns something new that would add to their own writing. Some are playful and some can get very anxious. I offered them new techniques that would help them in their own projects. I was invited to the festival by Shyam Selvadurai. I got here a little early and visited Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa and Kandy and have greatly enjoyed my stay so far.”

We also spoke to some of the participants to get their feedback:

Venetia Thompson

“It was interactive and informative. At the same time very helpful and inspiring.”

Hesandi Jayasekara

“It was inspiring for an aspiring writer like myself. She took tome and helped everyone by giving feedback and answering their questions.”

Mark

“Very informative. A good opportunity where we received feedback from a well-established professional.”

Ravindi

“A great workshop. I found it to be very helpful.”

Sajda Hussein

“It was though provoking and a lot of fun at the same time. She really made us think. I highly recommend it.”

Photographs by Damith Wickremasinghe

Sunset Series: Sunil Khilnani on Incarnations: India in 50 Lives

It was definitely an interesting approach to understanding 2500 years of Indian history through 50 lives. He includes emperors, warriors, philosophers, stars and corporate titans. Some are well known and some not so. The Buddha, Gandhi, Kautilya and Ambani are some of the individuals that are brought to life through this book. His goal was to recapture how the world’s largest democracy came to be.

When asked why famous sportsman and film stars from Bollywood were not included in his book he replied that he hopes someone else will be inspired by his book and write a similar novel. He certainly emphasized that there are definitely more than 50 important characters but the book includes the ones whom he considers important.

Sunil Khilnani spoke exclusively to Life Online after the session:

“I wanted look freshly at the Indian history. Who does the history really belong to? The government or different groups of people? We tend to lose the truths in it. I have simply attempted to document the journey from global spiritualism to global capitalism. My book is easily accessible to anyone. It is not written only for scholars. It gives me great joy to see parents buying the book for their children sometimes on request!”

We also asked some from the audience to share their thoughts:

Irfan Hussein

“It is a great idea to examine the lives of these individuals as it also shows the diversity found within India. It will be infinitely appropriate.”

Chris Stratton

“I am inspired to buy the book after the session. It was intriguing and good.”

Premala Walsh

“I found it very interesting. It is a great idea! We must study how an individual can also be significant and offer leadership. Progress is not only in numbers.”

Reita Gadkhari

“It was wonderful! Very appropriate and very well discussed.”

Rukmankan Sivaloganathan

“Very interesting. Relooking history through the lives of 50 people.”

Photographs by Damith Wickremasinghe

Jemima Foxtrot and Afdhel Aziz

Jemima Foxtrot is a performance poet and singer who blends powerful, sonic heavy poetry about modern life intro lyrical verses.

Afdhel Aziz is a writer, journalist and marketer as well as a poet.

Together, they both conducted a beautiful session filled with poetry reading contrasting each other in style of verse and performance. To Jemima’s fast paced poetry was Afdhel’s slow, mellow short poem. To his traditional and classical poetry was her contemporary and modern verse.

Together they were the perfect duet giving a stark contrast of life in Britain and life in Sri Lanka.

Catching up to them after their sessions, Afdhel states that “It felt really good to come to Galle and do this. It’s wonderful to be here in Galle and to have poetry, something very close to me, at the very heart of the city and the Festival.”

To this Jemima adds, “We had such a lovely session. I really enjoyed Afdhel’s poetry and I just think we complimented each other well. It’s surreal to bring a bit of Britain to Sri Lanka and this is my first time performing overseas as a poet so I’m just honored”

We spoke to some of the audience members who attended the session to gather a few comments;

“It was inspiring and absolutely wonderful” – Nick Evans

“I enjoyed the poets sense of place and the contrast between poetry from Yorkshire and Sri Lanka” – Eleanor

“It was interesting. I wasn’t the biggest poetry fan but this definitely got me interested” – Sheila

“It was absolutely lovely to hear a contrast of British and Sri Lanka and I just thought the two of them gelled very well together” – Yvonne

“An excellent session. It was exciting and the topics that were chosen by the poets were very interesting” – Natasha

“I actually didn’t know what to expect when I came for the reading but honestly it was such a refreshing session” – Nick

“Excellent!” – Kurt

Photographs by Zeeshan Akram Jabeer

John Gimlette

John Gimlette is an English author specializing in travel literature. His book ‘the Elephant Complex’ records his journey in war torn Sri Lanka.

“It’s important to remember why outsiders love this fabulously lush island” he reminds the audience as he takes them through a beautifully spoken journey through Sri Lanka through the eyes of a foreigner. He laughingly recalls Sri Lankan customs that bewildered him, the views that stunned him and the people that moved him. “There are so many things which baffle many outsiders about this country and there is just so much to misunderstand when you don’t know the culture.”

As beautifully as he describes this island, he also makes a record of his views of a country just recovering from war. As he describes his travels to the Northern part of the country, Gimlette describes that despite the misfortunes suffered by many due to the war, he is astounded by the generosity displayed by the people.

“It’s easy for us to forget what this country has been through” he muses, “That’s because the people of this country are so hospitable despite how much they’ve suffered or been through and lost”.

It’s easy for us to forget what this country has been through. But people are hospitable despite how much they’ve suffered or been through and lost.

His writing beautifully captures a side of Sri Lanka unseen by many locals and offers a view so eloquently and strikingly put together that it makes you fall in love with the island many call home.

“Perhaps Sri Lankans can understand better than anyone else how complex life is in this beautiful island”

We spoke to some of the audience members who attended the session to gather a few comments;

“It was an interesting outsiders perception” – Shyamalee

“It was interesting but I wish he has more of greater insight to his book” – Andrew

“I thought the slides were entertaining” – Diana

“Interesting!”- Barry

“A very good session!” – Zu

“It was a lovely session. I enjoyed hearing his views” - Anitra

Photographs by Zeeshan Akram Jabeer

Peter Frankopan

Dr. Peter Frankopan is a best-selling historian who has published books and other works focusing on the history of the Mediterranean, Russia, the Middle East and beyond.

His latest book ‘The Silk Roads: A New History of the World’ is an international bestseller that has sparked a reaction around the world. In this novel, Frankopan attempts to explain the forces that have shaped the global economy and the political renaissance.

As his session, Frankopan went to explain his theory of how the Silk Roads are tied to countries around the world. On a slideshow, Frankopan expertly took the audience from an A-Z timeline of history pulling out a variety of historical maps to show how countries such as Iraq and England and even Sri Lanka played a vital role in the Silk Roads.

Frankopan’s session provided a well presented, well research and thorough discussion on the Silk Roads with great attention given to explaining Sri Lanka’s role in it.

Having received a thundering applause at the end of the session, Frankopan commented that ‘it was the longest applause he has ever had’. “This is my first time in Galle and I tried my best to interlink Sri Lanka and Galle and I hope I did well!”

We spoke to some of the audience members who attended the session to gather a few comments;

“Excellent. Really nice” – Inker

“Riveting!” – Prof. Walter Perera

“Fantastic. It’s a different approach that I enjoyed” – Dilani

“Excellently presented that Silk Routes were not something exclusively made by China but it was a combination of countries all seeking to gain economic benefit” – Amarasinghe