The Gratiaen Prize is an annual literary prize for the best work of literary writing in English by a resident of Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1992 by the Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje with the money he received as joint-winner of the Booker Prize for his novel The English Patient. The prize is named after Ondaatje's mother, Doris Gratiaen.
Administered by the Gratiaen Trust based in Sri Lanka, the Gratiaen Prize accepts printed books and manuscripts in a range of genres including fiction, poetry, drama, creative prose and literary memoir. Entries may be submitted by both authors and publishers. Submissions are accepted between 1 and 31 December in a given year and are assessed by a panel of three judges appointed by the trust who are required to short-list three to five entries. The short-list event (open to the public) is usually held in April and hosted by the British Council in Colombo. The gala at which the winner is announced is held some weeks later at a venue selected by the trust and the event sponsors and is for invitees only.
The prize could be awarded for a translated work until 2003, when the trust established the H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize, which is awarded every second year for a work translated into English from Sinhala or Tamil.
Winners 1993 Carl Muller, The Jam Fruit Tree Lalitha Withanachchi, Wind Blows Over the Hills
1994 Punyakante Wijenaike, Amulet
1995 Sybil Wettasinghe, The Child in Me Rajiva Wijesingha, Servants
1996 Tissa Abeysekera, Bringing Tony Home
1997 Gamini Akmeemana, The Mirage
1998 Jeanne Thwaites, It's a Sunny Day on the Moon
1999 Neil Fernandopulle, Shrapnel Visakesa Chandrasekaram, Forbidden Area
2000 Ruwanthi De Chickera, Middle of Silence
2001 Elmo Jayawardena, Sam’s Story Sumathi Sivamohan, In the Shadow of the Gun/The Wicked Witch
2002 Vijita Fernando, Out of the Darkness
2003 Nihal De Silva, Road from Elephant Pass
2004 Jagath Kumarasinghe, Kider Chetty Street
2005 Delon Weerasinghe, Thicker Than Blood
2006 Senaka Abeyratne, 3 Star K Isankya Kodittuwakku, The Banana Tree Crisis
2007 Vivimarie Vanderpoorten, Nothing Prepares You
2008 Shehan Karunatilaka, Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew
2009 Prashani Rambukwella, Mythil's Secret
2010 Sakuntala Sachithanandan, On the Streets and Other Revelations
2011 Madhubhashini Disanayake-Ratnayake, There's Something I Have to Tell You
2012 Lal Meddawattegedera, Playing Pillow Talk at MGK
2013 Malinda Seneviratne, Edges
2014 Vihanga Perera, Love and Protest
2015 Thiyagaraja Arasanayagam, White Lanterns: Wesak 2011
2016 Charulatha Abeysekara Thewarathanthri, Stories
2017 Jean Arasanayagam, The Life of the Poet
2018 Arun Welandawe-Prematilleke, The One Who Loves You So
2019 Andrew Fidel Fernando, Upon a Sleepless Isle
2020 Carmel Miranda, Crossmatch
2021 Ashok Ferrey, The Unmarriageable Man
2022 Chiranthi Rajapakse, Keeping Time and Other Stories Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, The Wretched and the Damned
2023 Ramya Jirasinghe, Father Cabraal’s Recipe for Love Cake
2024 Savin Edirisinghe's debut short story collection Kata Katha: Gossip, Rumours and Idle Talk won
References
External links Official website