Animating Literature (Tamil)
SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2016
09.30 TO 11.30
Venue: Tamil Sangam, Wellewatte
This session will comprise readings from selected Tamil language short stories from the Unbound Creative Writing Project for YOUth CREATE alongside performances by ilangai thamizhanZ Tamil rap collective poets using the themes of the project to build a connecting platform for these aspiring writers to share their stories with the general public.
ilangai thamizhanZ is a Tamil rap collective from Sri Lanka, formed and mentored under the pioneer Thamizh music icon KingSouth. The rap collective features many rappers from all over the island with their unique styles of flow and word play. These poets hail from multiple cities and towns in Sri Lanka including Hatton, Kandy, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Colombo and Ampara
Krishan Maheson has been in the forefront of urban music in Sri Lanka for over a decade starting off in 1998 with his brother Gajan and their group urban sound later formed the ill noiZe crew with Iraj and then embarked on a solo career in 2004. Now known as "KingSouth" is the founder of Tamil rap music in Sri Lanka.
Animating Literature (Sinhala)
SUNDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2016
09.30 TO 11.30
Venue: Women’s International, Colombo 7
This session moderated by Dr Amarakeerthi Liyanage will comprise readings from selected Sinhala language short stories from the Unbound Creative Writing Project for YOUth CREATE alongside performances by poets using the themes of the project to build a connecting platform for these aspiring writers to share their stories with the general public.
Amarakeerthi Liyanage is a well-known scholar and author. The author of over 15 books of fiction, poetry, and literary theory his novel Atawaka Putthu (Waning-moon Sons) was awarded the best Sinhala novel (2008) at the National Literary Festival. He won the Swarnapusthaka Award, presented by the Sri Lanka Publishers’ Association for his novel Kurulu Hadavatha (A Bird’s Heart) in 2014 and Ahambakaraka (Maker of Accidental Events) in 2016. Kumari Goonesekere translated a collection of his short stories, The Hour When the Moon Weeps (2006).
Animating Literature (English)
SUNDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2016
16.00 TO 18.00
Venue: Women’s International, Colombo 7
This session curated by Stageless Arts will comprise readings from selected English language short stories from the Unbound Creative Writing Project for YOUth CREATE alongside performances by poets using the themes of the project to build a connecting platform for these aspiring writers to share their stories with the general public.
Stageless Arts is dedicated to promoting free expression through events and web based interactions. Its primary event, Open Brain, runs in six cities in five countries. The website serves as a repository for the work of artists and creators.
Michael Ketigian is an engineer by training. He began writing and performing spoken word poetry in 2011, which led to the establishing of Stageless Art.
Ohan Homini is a poet with a background in economics. He currently works on building communities centered on artistic expression. He is a co-founder of Stageless Arts.
About the programme
The Unbound Creative Writing Project is a collaborative initiative between British Council and YOUth CREATE, aiming at developing creative writing skills of aspiring writers in writing short stories and supporting free expression in themes around identities, diversity, reconciliation, democratisation and conflict resolution. The project is working with English, Sinhala and Tamil language aspiring writers who took part in creative writing skills development workshops mentored by established creative writers, across districts. The best pieces of writing will be published as a book and all submitted short stories will be available digitally.
All the readings at the WINGS 2016 festival will be from selected short stories produced from this project.