Fairway National Literary Award 2015 trophy unveiled

The trophy for the Fairway National Literary Award was unveiled recently at the Fairway Holdings office in Rajagiriya. The trophy, composed of granite, glass and wood, is an impressive 14 inches tall and aptly features a novel as its focal point. 

The Fairway National Literary Award was set up in conjunction with Fairway Holdings assuming the role of title sponsor of the Fairway Galle Literary Festival. It is the only award in Sri Lanka that recognises the efforts of Sinhala, Tamil and English novelists. Its aim is to sustain, inspire and encourage local writers.

A panel of three judges will select a winner in each language category. Each winner will receive an award of Rs. 500,000, whilst shortlisted candidates will each receive an award of Rs. 100,000. This year, four Sinhala and five English novels have been shortlisted for the award. The Tamil panellists opted not to shortlist any of the entries due to them not meeting the expected standard of the judges. 

Fairway Holdings has played a key role in bringing some of the finest international performers to Sri Lanka including Kenny G and Russell Peters. Fairway Holdings is also a long-term sponsor of the Soul Sounds Choir and the Chamber Music Society of Colombo. The Fairway Galle Literary Festival and the Fairway National Literary Award forms part of Fairway Holdings long-term plan to inculcate and create an appreciation for the arts amongst a wider cross section of society. 

Speaking of the motivation behind Fairway Holdings efforts, Chairman Hemaka de Alwis had this to say, “Sri Lanka has a rich cultural heritage which must be preserved and made sustainable. The first step towards doing this is to create a greater appreciation of local art by its people.”

The Awards Ceremony will be held on 15 January at 5:30 p.m. at the Fairway Hospitality Marquee, to coincide with the Galle Literary Festival.

This year, the FGLF will be held in Galle, Kandy and Jaffna in order to enable a wider audience to participate. The FGLF will be held on 8-9 January in Kandy, 14-17 January in Galle and 23-24 January in Jaffna.