Gratiaen Prize
The Gratiaen Prize is an annual literary prize for the best work of literary writing in English by a resident of Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1992 by the Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje with the money he received as joint-winner of the Booker Prize for his novel English Patient. The prize is named after Ondaatje's mother, Doris Gratiaen.
Administered by the Gratiaen Trust based in Sri Lanka, the Gratiaen Prize accepts printed books and manuscripts in a range of genres including fiction, poetry, drama, creative prose and literary memoir. Entries may be submitted by both authors and publishers. Submissions are accepted between 1 and 31 December in a given year and are assessed by a panel of three judges appointed by the trust who are required to short-list three to five entries. The short-list event is usually held in April and hosted by the British Council in Colombo. The gala at which the winner is announced is held some weeks later at a venue selected by the trust and the event sponsors and is for invitees only.
The prize could be awarded for a translated work until 2003, when the trust established the H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize, which is awarded every second year for a work translated into English from Sinhala or Tamil.
Winners
1993- Carl Muller, The Jam Fruit Tree
- Lalitha Withanachchi, Wind Blows Over the Hills
- Punyakante Wijenaike, Amulet
- Sybil Wettasinghe, The Child in Me
- Rajiva Wijesingha, Servants
- Tissa Abeysekera, Bringing Tony Home
- Gamini Akmeemana, The Mirage
- Jeanne Thwaites, It's a Sunny Day on the Moon
- Neil Fernandopulle, Shrapnel
- Visakesa Chandrasekaram, Forbidden Area
- Ruwanthi De Chickera, Middle of Silence
- Elmo Jayawardena, Sam’s Story
- Sumathi Sivamohan, In the Shadow of the Gun/The Wicked Witch
- Vijita Fernando, Out of the Darkness
- Nihal De Silva, Road from Elephant Pass
- Jagath Kumarasinghe, Kider Chetty Street
- Delon Weerasinghe, Thicker Than Blood
- Senaka Abeyratne, 3 Star K
- Isankya Kodittuwakku, The Banana Tree Crisis
- Vivimarie Vanderpoorten, Nothing Prepares You
2009
- Prashani Rambukwella, Mythil's Secret
- Sakuntala Sachithanandan, On the Streets and Other Revelations
- Madhubhashini Disanayake-Ratnayake, There's Something I Have to Tell You
- Lal Meddawattegedera, Playing Pillow Talk at MGK
- Malinda Seneviratne, Edges
- Vihanga Perera, Love and Protest
- Thiyagaraja Arasanayagam, White Lanterns: Wesak 2011
- Charulatha Abeysekara Thewarathanthri, Stories
- Jean Arasanayagam, The Life of the Poet
- Arun Welandawe-Prematilleke, The One Who Loves You So
- Andrew Fidel Fernando, Upon a Sleepless Isle
- Carmel Miranda, Crossmatch
- Ashok Ferrey, The Unmarriageable Man
- Chiranthi Rajapaksa, Keeping Time and Other Stories
- Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, The Wretched and the Damned
- Ramya Jirasinghe, Father Cabraal’s Recipe for Love Cake
- Savin Edirisinghe's debut short story collection Kata Katha: Gossip, Rumours and Idle Talk won