Once Upon a Time: Jetwing Lighthouse and the Galle Literary Festival 2011

Once upon a time legend has it that the historic southern town of Galle was the “Tarshish” referred to in the Bible. It was to Galle that King Solomon sent envoys to obtain the jewel that captured for him the heart of the Queen of Sheba. From Sinbad the Sailor to Marco Polo, Galle has always held a great attraction for travelers great and small.

Centuries later, little has changed. Travelers and tourists descend on Galle from all parts of the world but in January it is visitors who are bitten by the literary bug that make their way to this famous city. The reason being that for the fifth consecutive year Galle will play host to the most celebrated  and popular writers in the world of English literature at the Galle Literary Festival from the 26th to the 30th of January 2011.  Also for the fifth consecutive year running Jetwing Lighthouse will be a platinum sponsor for what Harper’s Bazaar called in 2007 the “Number One Literary Festival in the World”.  

Situated upon a hillock that overlooks the beautiful waters of the Indian Ocean is the stunning architectural masterpiece that is Jetwing Lighthouse. Designed by the world renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa the hotel exudes an old world charm of elegance and minimalism that is combined with fantastic service, scrumptious cuisine and a wide selection of facilities and activities that even includes whale watching.  In the month of January the hotel actively partners with the Galle Literary Festival as a platinum sponsor, ensuring that it plays host to a wide range of literary activities that mark the five days of the festival. Not only will the hotel be hosting prominent authors as they discuss their books but it will also be the residence of a number of writers during the festival period guaranteeing invigorating literary discussions alongside delicious lunches and dinners as well as an entire day at the hotel dedicated to the children’s programme.

The Festival this year is more than just a tantalising glimpse into the international world of literature. It is undoubtedly an entire experience that should not be missed and some of the most delightful events can be experienced at Jetwing Lighthouse. The Festival Welcome Party kicks off at the hotel on Wednesday the 26th of January and the next few days will consist of a wide spectrum of activities ranging from Tea and Poetry readings with Tishani Doshi and Daljit Nagra to a conversation with Candace Bushnell on the filming of Sex and the City.

Jetwing Lighthouse also plays host to key events throughout the festival. On Thursday the 27th there will be discussions at the Eddystone Hall with the Malaysian author Tash Aw on his book the Harmony Silk Factory as well as with the Canadian Guy Delisle, author of two graphic novels Shenzhen and Pyongyang. The day will wrap up with the British wine critic and editor of wine literature Jancis Robinson an evening of wine tasting at the bar with Jancis Robinson is not to be missed as she advises Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s wine cellar and can probably teach you more than a thing or two about the best of wining and dining.  

On Friday the 28th there will be the unique opportunity to experience poetry in the fields at Jetwing Kurulubedda, as English poet Roger McGough joins poetry fans for a literary lunch and in the evening there is said to be an honorary dinner to celebrate the life and times of the late Robert Burns at the elegant Eddystone Hall in Jetwing Lighthouse.

The spectacular kick off to the Festival weekend will be at Jetwing Lighthouse as whale watchers gather to go on a whale of an adventure with renowned whale expert Philip Hoare and Sri Lanka’s and Jetwing’s own Anoma Alagiyawadu, in the southern seas of Mirissa, as a celebrity whale watch. Finally a kaleidoscope of events will take place on the last day of the festival at Jetwing Lighthouse. There will be a discussion with the authors of books ranging from Sex and the City to Chairman Mao and Rudyard Kipling, leaving readers feeling spoilt for choice. Not to be missed is the Grand Finale Literary Lunch which gives you the exclusive opportunity to dine with your favourite authors!

Aside from playing host to fabulous events and famous authors at Jetwing Lighthouse, Jetwing Hotels will also conduct its own fringe event at the festival for the very first time. On Thursday the 27th of January at the Maritime Museum in the Galle Fort, the Jetwing Research Initiative will present an exhibition which will document the work of five Jetwing resident naturalists and their particular areas of research. Hasantha Lokugamage of Jetwing Beach will revisit the quaint village of Negombo while Buddhika Gamage of St.Andrew’s will discuss the reintroduction of trout trailing into Nuwara Eliya. Jetwing Vil Uyana’s naturalist Chaminda Jayasekera will present his research on Loris Trails while the famed Anoma Alagiyawadu of Jetwing Lighthouse will speak about the migration of Whales and Dolphins from Mirissa and the importance of responsible whale watching. Nayanpriya Bandara of Jetwing Hunas Falls has a project that deals with the behaviour and ecology of leopards in the Knuckles Range. The five projects that will be exhibited at this fringe event promise to be an extremely interesting occasion in itself.

For five fantastic days four authors will call Jetwing Lighthouse home. At past literary festivals Gore Vidal and Germaine Greer were some of the authors hosted by the hotel and this year too the guest list will consist of some extremely popular writers.

Philip Hoare -who won the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction for his superb book the “Leviathan or, The Whale” - will be staying at the hotel as will be the best-selling Chinese-British author Jung Chang who wrote Mao: The Unknown Story  (on Mao Tse Tung) and the family autobiography Wild Swans. Hoare and Chang will be joined at Jetwing Lighthouse by Orhan Pamuk who has won the Nobel Prize for Literature and Kiran Desai who has won the Man Booker Prize for Literature with her second novel ‘The Inheritance of Loss’ (2006). As Jetwing plays host once again to a fabulous line-up of authors, Hiran Cooray, Chairman of Jetwing Hotels reiterates the company’s commitment to the literary festival and to ensuring that Galle, and thus Sri Lanka remains on the map as a destination par excellence.

Thus, it is with much pleasure and anticipation that Jetwing Hotels invites all literary enthusiasts to join them in celebrating the coming of age of the Galle Literary Festival with their partner in literature of course - Jetwing Lighthouse.