- A haven and showcase for Sri Lankan English literature
Sri Lankan literature, especially in English, is exciting but often underrated and overlooked in favour of more international writing. The community of Sri Lankan English language writers and literature enthusiasts is also not a large one, and so, it is important to create an environment in which they can exchange knowledge, views, and perspectives.
One such platform, back after a hiatus of sorts, is Stories at Sunset with Ashok Ferrey. Stories at Sunset’s journey began at Galle Literary Festival (GLF), where Ferrey was one of the original trustees. In the early days of the festival, Stories at Sunset functioned as a fringe event that shone light on local writers and their work. It was widely successful, with Ferrey sharing that one edition of Stories at Sunset in the intervening years had as many as 400 people attending (Ferrey did note that this may also have been due to that series having had a wine sponsor, but he prefers to think it was also for the literature).
A throwback to the creative environment of GLF
In recent years, with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks followed by the pandemic, GLF has not taken place, but the need to highlight and celebrate local authors and their work has stayed strong, and so, in late 2021, Ferrey resurrected Stories at Sunset, basing the event at the Barefoot Gallery Colombo.
Brunch chatted with Ferrey on Stories at Sunset, what inspires it, and what the latest session was like. “In its day, GLF helped authors like me get prominence, and while Stories at Sunset now isn’t showing anyone to the rest of the world, we can at least showcase authors to a large audience here. The last session had at least 80 people attending. I’m very pleased with the way it went, and I hope to do one every one-and-a-half to two months and work my way through all the Sri Lankan authors one by one – from poets to playwrights to novel and short story authors.,” Ferrey said.
On what drives him to do Stories at Sunset, Ferrey explained: “Sri Lankan writing in English is very dynamic, with lots of books coming to you, but we don’t make much of them and there are hardly any interviews or events like Stories at Sunset that bring together like-minded people.”
In fact, Ferrey shared that this most recent edition of Stories at Sunset felt like a GLF event, with many asking him about GLF and recreating an environment for literature enthusiasts to celebrate literature. Of course, given current events, large-scale events like GLF are no longer possible, both for reasons to do with health and safety as well as funding, with sponsorships becoming increasingly hard to come by in uncertain times. However, Ferrey did share that should the stars align, he would be happy to bring GLF back to life.
Stories at Sunset anew
The theme of the most recent edition of Stories at Sunset focused on travel books, and each of the books featured, Ibn Battuta in Sri Lanka by Ameena Hussein, Upon A Sleepless Isle by Andrew Fidel Fernando, and The Line of Lanka: Myths and Memories of the Island by Sunela Jayewardene, cover very interesting parts of Sri Lanka’s history, blending them with travel to create truly unique perspectives of the island we call home.
“They’re all relatively recently published books that are all about Sri Lanka and how people saw Sri Lanka,” Ferrey explained, going into detail on how and why he chose these amazing authors’ stories to showcase. He added: “For example, Ibn Battuta in Sri Lanka conveys a very particular vision of Sri Lanka, and it’s a double book as well, its as much Ameena’s story as much as its Ibn Battuta’s story, because it’s Ameena retracing his footsteps across Sri Lanka.”
Andrew Fidel Fernando’s Upon A Sleepless Isle captures his own journey through Sri Lanka as a Sri Lankan returning to the country in 2010 after living much of his life in New Zealand. It paints a picture of Sri Lanka through the eyes of a returnee and paints an insider/outsider perspective of the country.
Sunela Jayewardene’s The Line of Lanka: Myths and Memories of the Island journeys through mythical Sri Lanka and the myths of the Ramayana, and how in India Ravana is hailed as a hero, but in Sri Lanka, he is seen as a villain. Ferrey shared that one very interesting aspect of he the book is that the myth most likely had basis in historical fact – there probably was indeed a king called Ravana, and Jayawardene tries to track down these myth pin-point geographic locations and so on to take on the myths that have formed the basis of Sri Lankan history from the ancient days.
The point of platforms like Stories at Sunset
Platforms and events like Stories at Sunset brook discussion, and most importantly, they present varied perspectives. Sharing one his most memorable takeaways from this last edition, Ferrey said: “I have always said that Sri Lanka is the most complex country in the world, and what this last edition really brought home is that each of us has an idea of Sri Lanka that can be quite different from our neighbours – even if you have had the same upbringing, or gone to the same schools, or follow the same religion, you might have entirely different ideas about Sri Lanka than your neighbours.”
This difference of perspective reminded Ferrey of a reference he had made in one of his books, that of how light can reflect off each individual scale of a fish in an infinite number of ways, despite each scale being exactly the same at its base. All you can see at the end of the day is bright, vivid flashes of colour that are each so different.
Sharing his hopes for Stories at Sunset going forward, Ferrey shared that the next edition will likely be held in April, post Avurudu. “I haven’t had any playwrights on yet,” he said, speaking on what he hopes can take place long term. “There aren’t that many playwrights too, and if they are being part of Stories at Sunset, they will need to rehearse, which will be a challenge, and a cost, but we will get there.”
To keep updated on developments with Stories at Sunset as well as Ferrey’s other work, please follow his Facebook page.
Facebook: Ashok Ferrey