The Gratiaen Trust, in association with the John Keells Foundation, and the support of the British Council, continues its objective of fostering creativity and literary excellence in Sri Lanka with an exciting series of storytelling workshops in celebration of Children’s Day. Workshops targeting young storytellers feature prominently on the Gratiaen Trust’s annual calendar. The Trust has expanded the scope of these workshops in 2023 to include events for teachers of English Literature and ‘A’ level students in Galle, a workshop for teenagers, and a Masterclass for authors of children’s literature in Colombo. The resource person at these workshops will be renowned British author and storyteller, Sita Brahmachari. Furthermore, in October, the Trust will also be hosting its second session of the Gratiaen Trust Young Writers Club.
Neloufer de Mel, Chairperson of the Gratiaen Trust, stated, “Our mission at the Gratiaen Trust is to unlock the imaginative potential of young writers and artists. We are delighted to have someone like Sita Brahmachari, a renowned UK-based author of children’s literature, to facilitate our Children’s Day programme. Through these workshops, we hope to encourage our future storytellers to be a part of what has now become an exciting Sri Lankan literary scene which is also winning international recognition. It is this focus on a younger generation of creative writers that also propelled us to launch the Gratiaen Young Writers Club earlier this year. We received a very enthusiastic response to the Club, and we look forward to hosting the second session on October 7th at which Gratiaen Prize-winning author Yudhanjaya Wijeratne will also participate.”
Orlando Edwards, British Council Sri Lanka Country Director said,“We are delighted to be supporting The Gratiaen Trust with a series of literary events on 23/24, as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of UK-Sri Lanka diplomatic ties. Following a successful visit in June by multiple award-winning British writer, Monique Roffey, we are looking forward to welcoming one of the most interesting and important voices in children’s books and a winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, British author, Sita Brahmachari, in October, for another series of literature workshops and events to celebrate children’s day .” John Keells Foundation – the CSR entity of the John Keells Group – has been the primary sponsor of the Gratiaen Trust since October 2019, providing unwavering support to help the Trust expand its mandate to include masterclasses, festivals, outreach programmes and workshops. .
Children’s Storytelling Workshop Details include : Writing Into Childhood- a Masterclass for authors of Children’s literature. Date: October 15th at the Lakmahal Community Library, Colombo. Writing Treasure Hunt is a workshop targeting young writers between 12 and 16 years old. Date: 14th October at the British Council Library, Colombo. In their Voice – Teaching Narrative Writing is a workshop for teachers of English literature (‘O’ and ‘A’ levels) based in schools in the Galle District. In this engaging workshop, Sita will share with teachers techniques that will help their students find their creative voice. This event is for teachers nominated by the Dept. of Education, Southern Province. Finding Your Voice is a practical workshop for A-level English Language and Literature students in Galle. The event is for students nominated from within the Galle District.
The Gratiaen Trust is a non-profit organisation promoting and encouraging contemporary creative writing in Sri Lanka. Established in 1992, the Trust annually awards the prestigious Gratiaen Prize for outstanding works of literature in English by Sri Lankan authors.
To learn more about the literary workshops and to register for them, please visit the Gratiaen Trust website https://www.gratiaen.com.
By Nelum Buddhadasa