- ‘The Unmarriageable Man’ recognised for displaying the advanced craft of a writer at his peak
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
Ashok Ferrey on Wednesday (22) won the Gratiaen Prize 2021 for his novel The Unmarriageable Man, which the judges said displays the advanced craft of a writer working at his peak.
Ferrey thanked the judges for “putting an old man out of his misery and giving him a prize”, adding that despite writing for a quarter of a century and being nominated eight times for various awards in South Asia, he had never won an award previously.
Ferrey said: “The victory is tinged with a little sadness because I can no longer use my tagline ‘always a bridesmaid, never the bride’. So this victory is for all you bridesmaids out there, because the message is: If this idiot can do it, any idiot can.”
Accepting the award, the author thanked his wife, Mandy. “Thirty-two years ago she married a builder. And unbeknownst to her and quietly over the years, the builder has transitioned into an author. I don’t think the transition is quite complete yet, but thank you,” he said, going on to thank his children as well.
This is the first year since the pandemic that the Gratiaen Prize event was held in-person, and Ferrey said it means a lot to the authors’ community to be together. “It raises our morale, but also equally importantly sends out a message that the arts are alive and kicking in a country where so much else is currently dead.”
During the event held at Barefoot Gallery in Colombo, Gratiaen Trust Chair Prof. Neloufer de Mel said: “We at the Gratiaen Trust decided that after two years of online work, it was time to reconnect, through breath, touch, seeing, and being with each other again. And importantly to have creative writing at the centre of our gathering.”
Prof. de Mel added that this is the 30th year of carrying out Gratiaen Trust Founder Michael Ondaatje’s vision of recognising and promoting Sri Lankan creative writing in English and literary translations.
“As we turn the page on this 30th chapter, we have been particularly keen to encourage young writers and readers,” she went on to say.
Meanwhile, Jury Chair Shyam Selvadurai addressed the audience virtually, as he couldn’t attend in person. Selvadurai said he had been asked for many years to be on the jury, but had refused until this year.
“However, I am really glad I got to do it, because I’ve been very homesick for Sri Lanka. It’s been two-and-a-half years since I’ve been there, and that’s actually the longest time I’ve been away from Sri Lanka for a very long time.”
Selvadurai added that it was great to connect with the country through the books he read, explaining that the submissions make it clear that Sri Lankan literature in English seemed to be in a very good position.
“I was really taken by a lot of the work and, in fact, it was hard for me or us to agree on a longlist because there were so many great books. And what I really loved was the diversity of voices and genres and subject matter, and all with excellence,” Selvadurai said, adding that the submissions covered a huge variety of work including poetry, short stories, and novels that ranged from traditional to experimental.
