Shyam Selvadurai was born to a Tamil father and a Sinhalese mother in Colombo and spent much of his adolescence there. Following the riots of 1983, his family moved to Canada, where he studied creative and professional writing as part of a B.F.A programme at York University. His debut novel Funny Boy (1994) was received well by critics and audiences both in Sri Lanka and abroad and is considered one of the novels that pioneered a new era of contemporary Sri Lankan writing in English. It was awarded the W. H. Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's Fiction. His second novel Cinnamon Gardens, was published in 1998. His third novel, Swimming in the Monsoon Sea (2005) - for young adults - is set against the backdrop of Othello, and tells the story of one boy’s infatuation with his Canadian cousin. It was a finalist for Canada's most prestigious literary award, the Governor General's Awards, in the category of children's literature and won a Lambda Literary Award in the same category. His books have been published in the U.S, U.K and India, and published in translation in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey and Israel. He teaches at York University, and lives in Toronto.
Shyam Selvadurai is brought to the Galle Literary Festival by the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $20.1 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada.
http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/journey/sri_lanka.html - Shyam Selvadurai's essay, Coming Out, in TIME Asia, chronicles the year in which he lived in Sri Lanka with his partner.
Shyam Selvadurai will be featured at the following events:
Friday 29 January, 11.15 AM- 12.15 PM, Hall de Galle: Fables and Fairy Tales
Saturday 30 January, 12.30 PM- 2 PM: A Private Affair
Saturday 30 January, 8 PM- 10 PM, Galle Fort Hotel: Literary Dinner
Sunday 31 January, 6 PM- 7 PM, Cinnamon Terrace- Jetwing Lighthouse Hotel: Reincarnations
Please click on programme for more details about these events!