Gratiaen Podcasts
Introducing the GRATIAEN PODS, a project presented in partnership with The John Keells Foundation and supported by The British Council Sri Lanka.
A series of video interviews and readings with acclaimed authors from Sri Lanka and around the world.
Gratiaen Pods 1: Sita Brahmachari talks to Haadiyah Marikar
Sita Brahmachari is an award winning children’s book author whose debut novel, ‘Artichoke Hearts’ won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2011 and made it to The Guardian’s ‘50 best culturally diverse books since the 1950s’ list in 2014. ‘Tender Earth’ (2017) was honoured by the International Board of Books for Young People. In the past decade, Sita has also contributed to many short-stories, animations, and plays. In 2013, she co-created a theatre production inspired by Shaun Tan’s award-winning graphic novel ‘The Arrival’.
She is also a human rights ambassador for Amnesty International and has continued to put children’s, refugee and environmental rights at the forefront of her stories. She is the current Writer in Residence at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants. Between 2021 - 2023, she was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow based at The Courtauld, and soon, she will take up a post as a Royal Literary Fellow at The British Library.
Sita’s latest title, ‘When Shadows Fall’ (illustrated by Natalie Sirett), was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegies Medal for Writing. It is endorsed by Amnesty International, and selected as a Reading Agency Shelf Help Book as well as an Empathy Lab pick for 2023. She is an Associate Lecturer teaching on the module in Children’s and Young Adult Literature at Goldsmiths University, London.
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Gratiaen Pods 2: V.V. Ganeshananthan talks to Radhika Coomaraswamy
V. V. Ganeshananthan is a prominent American writer of Tamil descent whose works have appeared in esteemed publications like Granta, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Washington Post. She is the author of two notable novels: Love Marriage, published by Random House in April 2008, and Brotherless Night, released by Penguin Random House in January 2023. Love Marriage was praised by The Washington Post Book World as one of the best books of 2008, while Brotherless Night was named a New York Times Editors' Choice. Ganeshananthan's writing often explores themes of identity, belonging, and the Sri Lankan diaspora.
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Gratiaen Pods 3: Dr. Anthony Joseph talks to Dr. Sanjana Hattotuwa
Dr Joseph, was the Chair of the Jury for The 31st Gratiaen Prize. His 2022 collection Sonnets for Albert won the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry 2022 and the OCM BOCAS Prize for Caribbean Poetry. He is the author of four previous poetry collections and three novels. His 2018 novel Kitch: A Fictional Biography of a Calypso Icon was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Award and the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Fiction. In 2019, he was awarded a Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship. His most recent fiction is the experimental novel The Frequency of Magic. As a musician, he has released eight critically acclaimed albums, and in 2020 received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Composers Award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Kings College, London.
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Gratiaen Pods 4: Ramya Jirasinghe talks to Ameena Hussein
Ramya writes poetry, plays, non-fiction, fiction and features. TimesOnline of UK selected her work for its 2009 collection of contemporary war poetry, and her writing has been published internationally and locally. She was joint runner-up to the UK’s Guardian Orange First Words Prize of 2009 and was longlisted for the Fish Poetry Prize of Ireland in 2011. Her book of poems, There’s an Island in the Bone, won the State Literary Joint-Award in 2011. Her books of non-fiction include Rhythm of the Sea (on the Asian Tsunami of 2004) and Trinity (on a missionary school established in 1872 in Ceylon). Her second collection of poems, Love Poems from a Frangipani Garden, was published in the UK by Mica Press in 2018. She holds a Master’s from SOAS, London, and a PhD from the University of Colombo.
Her Gratiaen award winning, debut novel, 'Father Cabraal’s Recipe for Love Cake' is based in a tropical island fort built by a colonial trading company in the 18th century, a woman makes a cake as sweet as wild honey and as unforgettable as a great love. Yet, the events that have made her life in the fort possible are violent and unforgiving.
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Gratiaen Pods 5: Suli Breaks talks to Nimaya Harris
Suli Breaks is a London-based poet, storyteller and creative writer known for his impactful work in the realms of education, entrepreneurship, and creative storytelling. With a solid online presence and a career that gained broader appeal after his viral video "Why I Hate School but Love Education" garnered 10 million views in 2012, Suli has established himself as a sought-after speaker, performer and writer. His reputation as a powerful speaker has led to invitations to prestigious events such as the United Nations National Commonwealth Day, where he performed in the presence of the late Queen Elizabeth II. He has also delivered keynotes for Google, The Times, and various institutions worldwide, covering topics ranging from artistic inspiration to empowering creatives to embrace entrepreneurship.
This podcast is supported by The British Council Sri Lanka, in partnership with The John Keells Foundation and Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival.
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Gratiaen Pods 6: Sophie Mackintosh talks to Sajeda Akbarally
Sophie Mackintosh is a British novelist and short story writer. Her debut novel, The Water Cure, was nominated for the 2018 Man Booker Prize. In 2023, she was named on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list, compiled every 10 years since 1983, identifying the 20 most significant British novelists aged under 40. This podcast is supported by The British Council Sri Lanka, in partnership with The John Keells Foundation and Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival.
Watch the episode now on Youtube