Sampath Bank principal sponsor of ‘Swarna Pusthaka’ Awards ceremony for 9th consecutive year

From left: Fast Publishing Managing Director Prem Dissanayake, Sri Lanka Book Publishers Association Secretary General Samantha Indeewara Samarasinghe, Swarna Pusthaka Award Winner Kapila Kumara Kalinga, Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Sri Lanka Book Publishers Association President Vijitha Yapa, and Sampath Bank Senior Deputy General Manager – Consumer Banking Tharaka Ranwala 

In light of Sampath Bank being the Principal Sponsor of the 2019 Swarna Pusthaka award for the ninth consecutive year, Sampath Bank Senior Deputy General Manager – Consumer Banking Tharaka Ranwala attended the event as the Guest of Honour. The ‘Swarna Pusthaka’ award is Sri Lanka’s richest literary prize where five Sinhala novelists vie for a prize of Rs. 750,000 to the winner and Rs. 100,000 to each of the five finalists. 

Presented by the Sri Lanka Book Publishers Association since 2007, the Swarna Pusthaka Awards program is held in conjunction with the Colombo International Book Fair (CIBF), which takes place every September. 

This year too, Sampath Bank will be continuing with its sponsorship of the Colombo International Book Fair for the 15th consecutive year, which will take place from 20-29 September at the BMICH in Colombo. The Colombo International Book Fair is Sri Lanka’s largest book exhibition and is expected to draw a crowd of well over 1.5 million people.