Gratiaen Prize Explained

The Gratiaen Prize is an annual literary prize for the best work of literary writing in English by a resident of Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1992 by the Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje with the money he received as joint-winner of the Booker Prize for his novel The English Patient.^[1] The prize is named after Ondaatje's mother, Doris Gratiaen.

Administered by the Gratiaen Trust based in Sri Lanka, the Gratiaen Prize accepts printed books and manuscripts in a range of genres including fiction, poetry, drama, creative prose and literary memoir. Entries may be submitted by both authors and publishers. Submissions are accepted between 1 and 31 December in a given year and are assessed by a panel of three judges appointed by the trust who are required to short-list three to five entries. The short-list event (open to the public) is usually held in April and hosted by the British Council in Colombo. The gala at which the winner is announced is held some weeks later at a venue selected by the trust and the event sponsors and is for invitees only.

The prize could be awarded for a translated work until 2003, when the trust established the H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize, which is awarded every second year for a work translated into English from Sinhala or Tamil.

Winners

1993

• Carl Muller, The Jam Fruit Tree^[2]
• Lalitha Withanachchi, Wind Blows Over the Hills

1994

• Punyakante Wijenaike, Amulet^[3]

1995

• Sybil Wettasinghe, The Child in Me
• Rajiva Wijesingha, Servants

1996

• Tissa Abeysekera, Bringing Tony Home

1997

• Gamini Akmeemana, The Mirage

1998

• Jeanne Thwaites, It's a Sunny Day on the Moon

1999

• Neil Fernandopulle, Shrapnel
• Visakesa Chandrasekaram, Forbidden Area

2000

• Ruwanthi De Chickera, Middle of Silence

2001

• Elmo Jayawardena, Sam’s Story
• Sumathi Sivamohan, In the Shadow of the Gun/The Wicked Witch

2002

• Vijita Fernando, Out of the Darkness

2003

• Nihal De Silva, Road from Elephant Pass

2004

• Jagath Kumarasinghe, Kider Chetty Street

2005

• Delon Weerasinghe, Thicker Than Blood

2006

• Senaka Abeyratne, 3 Star K
• Isankya Kodittuwakku, The Banana Tree Crisis

2007

• Vivimarie Vanderpoorten, Nothing Prepares You

2008

• Shehan Karunatilaka,

2009

• Prashani Rambukwella, Mythil's Secret

2010

• Sakuntala Sachithanandan, On the Streets and Other Revelations

2011

• Madhubhashini Disanayake-Ratnayake, There's Something I Have to Tell You

2012

• Lal Meddawattegedera, Playing Pillow Talk at MGK

2013

• Malinda Seneviratne, Edges^[4]

2014

• Vihanga Perera, Love and Protest^[5]

2015

• Thiyagaraja Arasanayagam, White Lanterns: Wesak 2011

2016

• Charulatha Abeysekara Thewarathanthri, Stories^[6]

2017

• Jean Arasanayagam, The Life of the Poet^[7]

2018

• Arun Welandawe-Prematilleke, The One Who Loves You So^[8]

2019

• Andrew Fidel Fernando, Upon a Sleepless Isle

2020

• Carmel Miranda, Crossmatch^[9]

2021

• Ashok Ferrey, The Unmarriageable Man^[10]

2022

• Chiranthi Rajapaksa, Keeping Time and Other Stories
• Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, The Wretched and the Damned^[11]

2023

• Ramya Jirasinghe, Father Cabraal’s Recipe for Love Cake^{[12] [13] [14]}

External links

Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: About. The Gratiaen Trust. 9 September 2020.
2. Web site: Gratiaen Prize Winners & Short Listed Writers 1993-2021. The Gratiaen Trust. 24 October 2019. 5 November 2022.
3. Web site: 1994 Winner. https://web.archive.org/web/20150822024747/http://gratiaen.com/1994-winners.php. August 22, 2015. The Gratiaen Prize for Creative Writing in English. The Gratiaen Trust.
4. Web site: Malinda Seneviratne wins Gratiaen Prize . . 25 May 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140529014325/http://www.adaderana.lk/news/malinda-seneviratne-wins-gratiaen-prize. 29 May 2014. 9 September 2022.
5. Web site: The Gratiaen Prizes 2014 . . 13 June 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150615000632/http://www.asiantribune.com/node/87134. 15 June 2015. 9 September 2022.
6. News: Charulatha Abeysekara Thewarathanthri wins 2016 Gratiaen Prize, Aditha Dissanayake awarded H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize for Translation. Daily FT. 2 June 2017. 2017-08-11.
7. Web site: Jean Arasanayagam Wins 2017 Gratiaen Prize . . 26 May 2018 . 24 July 2018.
8. Web site: Sunday Times - 2018 Gratiaen Prize goes to Arun Welandawe- Prematilleke. Sunday Times. Sri Lanka. 2019-09-10.
9. Web site: Carmel wins the Gratiaen for her debut whodunit. Sunday Times. Sri Lanka. 4 July 2021. Yomal Senerath-Yapa. 9 September 2022.
10. Web site: Ashok Ferry wins Gratiaen Prize 2021. 2022-06-23. Daily FT . 2022-06-23.
11. Web site: Dual winners for Gratiaen prize 2023 - Life Online . 2023-06-20 . www.life.lk . English.
12. Web site: Gratiaen Prize reveals 2024 shortlist Daily FT . 2024-06-21 . www.ft.lk . English.
13. Web site: Ramya Jirasinghe wins 31st Gratiaen Prize . 2024-06-21 . www.dailynews.lk.
14. Web site: Sri Lankan author Ramya Jirasinghe bags Gratiaen Prize - Breaking News Daily Mirror . 2024-06-21 . www.dailymirror.lk . English.