Conversation with Ayathurai Santhan tomorrow on “Twice Upon a Lifetime”

Tuesday, 24 February 2026 04:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Ayathurai Santhan

A conversation with Ayathurai Santhan on his latest novel Twice Upon a Lifetime, will take place tomorrow tomorrow (25) from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) Colombo 7.

The discussion will be moderated by University of Sri Jayewardenepura Department of English Senior Lecturer Dr. Vihanga Perera. Copies of the book will be on sale at the event.

Published in January 2026, Twice Upon a Lifetime, is a meditation on memory, resilience, and reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka. Narrated from the point of view of three drivers across two timelines set in Kenya and Sri Lanka, the primary plot of Twice Upon a Lifetime is set in 2022, during the economic crisis of Sri Lanka. The novel follows the memories and reflection of Sivan, an elderly man from Jaffna, as he embarks on a journey from Jaffna to Colombo during the height of the fuel shortage, to find closure to a relationship that was abruptly disrupted years ago. What emerges in the non-linear dialogic narrative is a quest, both literal and metaphorical, of a man who has lived through the violence war, as he invites conversations on reconciliation and forgiveness with a younger generation that has inherited new challenges in the aftermath of the economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

In an appraisal of the novel, Nabanita Sengupta writes, “Twice Upon a Lifetime is a story that unfolds like a game of treasure hunt, and in the process unwraps the history of the country…There is a strong resilience in the novel, similar to that of the author himself for whom the zest for life is equal to living.” In the preface to the novel, Manikya Kodituwakku writes that the novel “is a timely reminder that reconciliation begins with conversations and dialogues across shared spaces, whether over a cup of tea or with a prayer at a shrine, between people living the ordinary rhythms of life.”