KARUNATILAKA, Shehan

Karunatilaka_headshot_cropped
2022 Spring Resident
  • Asia
  • Southern Asia
  • Sri Lanka
English

Shehan KARUNATILAKA (novelist, screenwriter; Sri Lanka) has authored the novels Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew (2010) and Chats with the Dead (2020) as well as the children’s book Please Don’t Put That in Your Mouth (2019). The recipient of the 2008 Gratiaen Prize, the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize, and the 2012 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, he also writes on sport, music, and travel for major newspapers and magazines. His participation was made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

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Happening Now

  • We regret the passing, on April 11, 2024, of the distinguished Romanian author and critic Dan Cristea, who served as the editor in chief of the Luceafărul de Dimineață cultural monthly. In addition to being an alum of the 1985 Fall Residency, Cristea received his PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Iowa.

  • Our congratulations to 1986 Fall Residency writer Kwame Dawes, who has been named the new poet laureate of Jamaica.

  • Congratulations to our colleagues Jennifer Croft and Aron Aji, who are among those serving as judges for the National Book Awards this year, in their case in the category of translated literature.

  • Ranjit Hoskote’s speech at the 2024 Goa Literary Festival addresses the current situation in Gaza.

  • In NY Times, Bina Shah worries about the state of Pakistani—and American—democracy.

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