More than 30 writers honoured
Thirty six writers of diverse branches of literature in all three media carried away trophies – the symbol of the highest recognition at national
Carl Muller receiving the Sahithyaratne award from President Mahinda Rajapaksa
level for excellence in literature at the 57th State Literary Awards ceremony held on September 3 at the BMICH. President Mahinda Rajapaksa presented the main awards of the evening.
The presentation of the Sahithyaratna award to Professor Wimal Dissanayake, Telwatte Joseph and Carl Muller by President Mahinda Rajapaksa awarded in recognition of the dedication throughout their lives for the advancement of literature respectively in Sinhala, Tamil and English,was one of the highlights of the glittering show.
Organised by the State Literary Panel headed by Professor Samantha Herath, the Awards had the patronage of the Sri Lanka Arts Council, Department of Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Arts. And towards transparency in the selection of winners, the Panel for the first time, chose 140 judges from outside the Cultural Department this year.
M.T.L.Ebell receiving the award for Best English Novel from President Mahinda Rajapaksa
The Best Novel (Sinhala) was won by Norbert Ayagamage and the Best Collection of Short Stories (Sinhala) was won by Gunadasa Amarasekera. The winner of the Best Poetry was Saumya Sandaruwan Liyanage while Jayalath Manoratne won the prize for the Best Drama. The posthumous award for the Best Sinhala Translation of Drama was given to Bandula Vitanage which was collected by his grandson.
The Best Collection of Stories in Translation (Tamil) award was won by S.Pathmanathan and Vimala Ganeshanathan won the Best Miscellaneous.
The Best English Poetry award was won by Jean Arasanayagam and M.T.L. Ebell won the award for the Best Novel (English). The winner of the Best Academic Research (English) award was W.A. Wiswa Warnapala.
 Prof. Wimal Dissanayake receiving the Sahithyaratne award from President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Pix by Jayamal Chandrasiri |
 Telwatte Joseph receiving the Sahithyaratne award from President Mahinda Rajapaksa |
 Gunadasa Amarasekera receiving the award for Best Collection of Short Stories ( Sinhala) from Minister of Culture T.B. Ekanayake |
 Jayalath Manoratne receiving the award for Best Drama from Minister of Culture T.B. Ekanayake |