Best Sinhala Novels

[Patrizia Leones]

DayaDissanayake (born 8 March 1947) is a bilingual Sri Lankan novelist, poet and blogger. His work spans a critical study of king Ashoka, nine novels in English, six novels in Sinhala and a collection of poems, and numerous articles in newspapers, journals and magazines. He is the author of the first e-novel in Asia, 'The Saadhu Testament' (1998), and the first e-novel in Sinhala, 'Vessan Novu Wedun' (2003). His first nonfiction work is "Who is Ashoka?" He is the only Sri Lankan writer to receive the Sri Lankan State Literary Award for the best English novel three times[1][2] and was awarded the SAARC Literary Award in 2013.[3] Being the first Sri Lankan to release his work online and for free access, he is often seen as one of Sri Lanka's earliest and most vocal advocates for the ebook format, copyleft and Creative Commons.[4]

Dayananda Dissanayake (he later shortened his name to Daya) was born on 8 March 1947 in Galle, Sri Lanka. He has five siblings and is the eldest offspring of Albert Dissanayake and Agnus Wavala Panditha. Daya first attended Southland Balika Vidyalaya, later joining St. Aloysius College, where he remained until after his G.C.E A/L examinations. Daya lost his father at the age of fourteen, and was largely raised by his mother and his father's younger brother, Mahinda Dissanayake; his mother wove cotton saris at home and his uncle supported them with his salary as a teacher,Galle.

Daya Dissanayake's first job was as teacher of science at Sacred Heart Convent, Galle. He later joined the Sri Lanka Cement Corporation, in Kankesanthurai, Jaffna, as a trainee chemist in 1968. In 1970 he was transferred to Galle, and in 1983, he received a diploma in programming and systems design and was appointed as an Analyst Programmer at the Head Office of the Cement Corporation. When he was transferred from the Head Office in Colombo, to the cement factory in Puttalam, he resigned from his post at the Cement Corporation and joined a private company which dealt in manufacturing furniture. He later joined the Nawaloka Group of companies, first as the D.P. Manager at the Nawaloka Hospital, and then joined an associate company Nawakrama. He functioned as the Director/General Manager of several Nawaloka divisions (Ceyoka, Nawaloka Trading, and Koala). dealing in pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, vaccines, and also equipment for construction, power generation, welding, etc. He retired from the Nawaloka group in 2012 after serving for over twenty five years.

Daya started writing seriously in his forties. His writing often features the subjects of non-violence, history, archeology, Buddhism and how people perceive and adopt religion in their lives. His first novel was Kat bitha (1998) in which he narrates the story of Sigiriya through the musings of a young monk who visits the site in the 11th century. Kat bitha won the State Literary Award in 1998. His next book, The Saadhu Testament (1998) was published the same year and was heralded as the first Asian novel to be published in an electronic format.[5] This was followed by the Healer and the Drug Pusher in 2000, as the first POD book from Sri Lanka and its Sinhala version, 'Vessan novu wedun (2003), which became the first e-book in Sinhala.

In addition to his main body of work, Dissanayake also blogs on www.saadhu.com, has translated two books from Sinhala to English (Swayanjatha which was nominated for the State Literary Award for best translation in 2012 and 'Son of the Soil', the biography of H.K Dharmadasa). He has also published a collection of poems titled Inequality, which reviewers from the Sunday Observer noted for its experimental use of language.[7] Prof. Sunanda Mahendra wrote a glowing review for the Daily News, stating that "Daya is, to all intents, a reformer of sorts. He hangs his thoughts on seething crosses and asks that we regard them with our conscience."[8]

Daya Dissanayake received the State Literary Award for the Best English novel for his debut novel Kat bitha in 1998.[9] In 2007 he received the award once again for Evesdropper, and in 2013 for Miracle Under the Kumbuk Tree. In 2006 he shared the Swarna Pusthaka award with five others, and in 2013 he also won the same for the best Sinhala novel with four others for Chandrarathnage Bawanthara Charikawa. In the same year he received the SAARC Literary Award conferred by the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature.[10]

Daya Dissanayake is noted for his advocacy of the abolishing of copyright, considered by many to be an unusual viewpoint.[4] He is vocal against what he describes as "the commodification of art" and has called for writers to place their works in the public domain, pointing out that with freedom of publication, writers "would write freely, for their own pleasure and satisfaction, and readers could read freely, of their own choice, without any control, or monitoring or censorship".[4] He has also advocated against awards and competition schemes for novels, stating that award ceremonies should be called off as they create "unnecessary friction, suspicion and jealousy."[1] He is regarded by many to be the first Sri Lankan advocate for electronic books and self-publishing.

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