‘Viewpoints on the Banana Tree Crisis’, a dialogue on the Gratiaen Prize and State Literary Award-winning collection of short stories by Isankya Kodithuwakku will be held at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 15 at the auditorium of the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism S Hotel Management - formerly Hotel School, 78, Galle Road, Colombo 3.

The event will be chaired by Prof Ashley Halpe and will feature presentations by the distinguished academics Prof. K.N.O. Dharmadasa and Vivimarie Vanderpoorten, and a reading by the author. The book is published by Vijitha Yapa Publications.

The stories in The Banana Tree Crisis map the journeys of individuals from diverse locations and lifestyles around Sri Lanka.

Isankya had her primary education in Japan and South Korea and returned to Sri Lanka to complete her schooling. She received her Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College, Ohio, USA where she gave up her mathematics major to concentrate on writing. She is now at Columbia University doing an M.F.A. in Creative Writing.