Tighter and fitter

Chinaman prepared to take on India at the Jaipur Lit Fest 2011 and then the UK

By Cassandra Mascarenhas

Following the success of his debut into the literary circles with the novel ‘Chinaman: The legend of Pradeep Matthews’ which went on to win the Gratiaen Award in 2008, Shehan Karunatilaka’s narrative on Sri Lanka and one of the country’s great passions, cricket is now set to be unleashed on a global platform commencing with its launch at the Jaipur Literature Festival in India next year.

Although he is now back to the daily grind of working in the adverting industry, Shehan was able to answer a couple of quick questions on his thoughts on the launch, writing the novel, his work at the present and future aspirations.  Following are some excerpts from the interview.

Q: A fairly clichéd question but what inspired you to write Chinaman?

A: A fairly clichéd answer: I thought it might be interesting. There are plenty of ideas floating around and plenty of stories worth telling, especially in Sri Lanka. I'd heard tales of talented cricketers getting lost in the system during the 80s. I started to research it and it led me to dodgy bars where I'd meet old drunks who'd want to talk about cricket all day. It didn't feel like work.

Q: As your first novel, the response to it has been great. Do you plan on following this up with another book in the near future?

A: Near future, sadly not. As soon as Chinaman was done, I jumped back into the rat-race. Probably as penance for enjoying two years of watching cricket matches and writing. I have an idea for another book that has nothing to do with sport or drunks. I’ve only just started the research. One day I might find the time to start writing it. Sadly that day won’t be today.

Q: How long did it take for you to write Chinaman? Did you take time off from all your other responsibilities in order to give your writing top priority?

A: Got the idea in late 2007. Started waking up at ridiculous hours and writing before work. Came up with a crappy 100 pages. Quit my job, went freelance, read every book on cricket I could find and interviewed every drunkard within a 3-mile radius. Was great fun. But not something I would recommend if you have a job or a life. Thankfully I had neither.

Q: Could you go into detail about the launch in India? When will this be happening?

A: After months of rejection letters, I finally managed to con Random House India into publishing it. We just did an edit and shaved off 100 pages. This version’s much tighter and less rambly, I hope. It launches at the Jaipur Lit Fest 2011 and then across the subcontinent. Exciting stuff.

Q: What expectations do you have for the launch of your book in India? Is a global launch in the works as well?

A: Who knows? I didn’t expect anyone outside Colombo to be interested in it, so I’m delighted that it’ll be out in India in January. There are a lot of cricket fans over there, but there are also a lot of books competing for attention. It could be embraced or ignored. It’ll be out in the UK in June with Jonathan Cape. Hopefully someone will read it and I’ll be able to write another one.

Q: You mentioned that you live in Singapore, what is your life like over there? What does your daily routine comprise of?

A: These days I’m just a working stiff. Not much to report. Back in advertising. Same game I played in Colombo. Just here it’s more work, longer hours and less laziness. Get to travel a bit but don’t get much time to read.

Q: Interests, hobbies – basically anything you like to do in your spare time?

A: If I had spare time I’d spend it reading and writing. Sorry to be boring. That and playing bass.