Write Back! : The Facilitators

An online workshop presented by the Gratiaen Trust in association with the John Keells Foundation, will be held from 16th-17th October 2021 to help young writers to help them sharpen their English creative  writing skills, while learning how to bring short stories to life. Three award winning Sri Lankan authors will facilitate the two day, interactive, feedback-oriented workshop. To find out more about the workshop facilitators, read on.

Prashani Rambukwella is a writer and corporate communications professional who has worked in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and India. She enjoys writing - both as a job and as a hobby. She has written two novels so far. ‘Mythil’s Secret’, Prashani’s debut novel won the Gratiaen Prize in 2009, for its ability to “look at life through the eyes of a child.” Its thrilling sequel, ‘Asiri’s Quest’ followed the adventures of young protagonist on a journey back to World War II Ceylon. Common themes in Prashani’s books include bullying and how we see people who are different to us.

Delon Weerasinghe has written professionally for the stage, print, screen, web and radio. Best known perhaps as a playwright, his play “Thicker than Blood” won the Gratiaen prize in 2005. Since then, he has gone on to write commissioned plays for The Royal Court theatre in London and BBC World Service radio.

Delon is a self-employed television and film director and producer by profession. His company produces shows that are broadcast internationally on channels like the BBC, Discovery and NatGeo. His screenwriting credits are varied from short films on racism, to children’s comedies, to corporate videos, to documentaries on violence against women. He has also contributed to many national and international newspapers and magazines. He wrote a popular humour column in the Sunday Times for three years as well as being a feature writer for the newspaper. For ten years from 2004 to 2014, Delon was also responsible for the creation and management of WriteClique.net, the British Council’s creative writing website.

In recent years, he has conducted many workshops on creative writing and writing for theatre and television in both English and Sinhala.

Lal Medawattegedara is the author of 2 collections of short stories, The Window Cleaner’s Soul (short- listed for Gratiaen Prize 2002), Can you hear me running; and two novels, Playing Pillow Politics at MGK (Winner Gratiaen Prize 2012) and Restless Rust (short-listed for Gratiaen Prize 2021). His work has been featured on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio and Khaleej Times. Lal teaches English at The Open University of Sri Lanka.