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With the new year
came the second Galle Literary Festival - an international
celebration of English Literature on the tropical island of
Sri Lanka. The first Festival was voted by Harpers Bazaar
UK as “Number
1” of several literary festivals around
the world – and many repeat visitors stopped to tell
us the Galle Literary Festival 2008 was even better!
A hundred writers and artists from around the world gathered
for five days in the bijoux walled city of Galle
– a UNESCO World Heritage site on the southern coast
of Sri Lanka. The PARTICIPANTS
included Gore Vidal, Vikram Seth, and Alexander McCall Smith,
alongside Sri Lanka’s own Shyam Selvadurai, Karen Roberts
and Yasmine Gooneratne.
The writers discussed their work with large captive audiences
and were joined by their readers at intimate meals in splendid
settings. There were seminars and plays and films –
and fringe events including a photographic exhibition portraying
the lives of 80 people who live in the Fort. The Festival
spilled beyond the Fort too, with a poetry slam uphill at
the Sun House and an architectural tour that took us into
private homes and public treasures down the coast of Sri Lanka.
Click on the PROGRAMME
and PRESS RELEASE
to see what you missed, or visit our BLOG
for an eyewitness account.
And get ready to join us the next time around – we’re
already planning the next festival. Who would you most like
to meet there? We always welcome your thoughts and suggestions
at info@galleliteraryfestival.com.
Most of all, a big thank you to everyone who joined us at
the Galle Literary Festival 2008 – and especially to
our SPONSORS
and PARTICIPANTS
without whom we could never have hosted an international literary
celebration in such a special place.
See you at the Galle Literary Festival 2009!
Preliminary details of the 2008 festival will be posted on
the web site at the end of April 2008.
Best wishes
Geoffrey Dobbs
Festival Founder
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