| Monica Ruwanpathirana | |
| Birth Date: | 26 February 1946 |
| Birth Place: | Matara, Ceylon |
| Death Date: | [1] |
| Death Place: | Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Occupation: | poetry |
| Education: | St. Thomas' Girls' High School, Sanghamitta Balika Vidyalaya, University of Colombo |
| Awards: | Kala Keerthi (Posthumous) (2005) |
Kala Keerthi Monica Ruwanpathirana (si|'''මොනිකා රුවන්පතිරණ''') (1946 – 2004) was a Sri Lankan poet and writer. She is considered one of the most acclaimed poets in modern Sinhala poetry.[2] She has written 23 books, including nineteen poetry and three of them won the State Literary Award.[3] In 2005, she was honored by Government of Sri Lanka with the reputation of Kala Keerthi.[4]
Born in a village in Matara, Monica had her education at St. Thomas' Girls' High School, Galle and Sanghamitta Balika Vidyalaya. In 1967, she graduated from the University of Colombo and joined the Plan Implementation Ministry where she worked for eleven years. Later she started working for an NGO as a director.[5] She died at the age of 58.[6]
Her books of verse include,[2]
Short stories
Critical essays