Come & join world renowned architect Channa Daswatte on a tour from Galle to Tangalle visiting a wide variety of Sri Lankan architecture from Geoffrey Bawa to Valentine Gunesekara and beyond!

Tour Guide: Channa Daswatte

Location: A bus will depart from outside Amangalla in Galle Fort at 8.15am sharp.

In association with Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau

Featuring William Dalrymple

The award winning author will discuss his most recent book The Last Mughal, taking you on a journey through the Indian rebellion of 1857–8 and the deposition of the last Mughal Emperor.

Location: Hall de Galle

Michael Meyler & Richard Boyle
Hear these experts discuss the use of the English language and its nuances in contemporary Sri Lankan culture and writing.

Moderator: Simon Winchester

Sponsored by Sri Lanka Telecom

Location: Hall de Galle

Punyakante Wijenaike, Neil Fernandopulle & Seneka Abeyratne

A selection of Gratiaen Award winners discuss the impact of this significant award initiated by Michael Ondaatje on their writing and their lives.

Moderator: Ashok Ferrey

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Sri Lankan Style brought alive by artist Laki Senanayake, designer Barbara Sansoni, architect Channa Daswatte & photographer Dominic Sansoni.

Moderator : Ashok Ferrey

Location: Hall de Galle

Seneka Abeyratne, Indu Dharmasena, Tracy Holsinger, Delon Weerasinghe and other Sri Lankan playwrights and directors discuss the challenges of writing and performing for an audience versus simply writing for a reader.

Moderator: Sunila Galappatti

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Adventurer and travel writer Tim Severin and author researcher Richard Boyle discuss their fascination with Sindbad’s voyages.

Moderator: Simon Winchester

Sponsored by Sri Lanka Ports Authority

Location: Hall de Galle

Get the inside scoop from global and Sri Lankan publishing houses on the process: finding talent, editing, marketing and distributing.

Alexandra Pringle – Bloomsbury, UK
Chiki Sarkar - Random House, India
Sam Perera - PH Books, Sri Lanka
Simon Prosser - Hamish Hamilton & Penguin, UK

Moderator:  Nury Vittachi

Sponsored by Printcare

Location: The Hall de Galle

Join emerging writers Indran Amirthanayagam, Julian West and Randy Boyagoda discuss what motivates people to write and what it takes to make the distance. The trials and tribulations of getting your first book published.

Moderator: Deepika Shetty

Sponsored by The New Asia Writing Partnership

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Featuring Tim Severin, Sandra Hoffmann, Brian Keenan & Vikram Seth.

Cross continents and cultures with some of the world’s best travel writers.

Moderator: William Dalrymple

Sponsored by Sri Lankan Airlines

Location: The Hall de Galle

John Mateer, Tishani Doshi, Jeet Thayil, Indran Amrithanayagam, Sophie Hannah & Vivimarie VanderPoorten.

Join these contemporary poets as they entertain you with their award winning poetry and discuss the process and allure of the poetic form.

Moderator: Jill Macdonald

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Join two of Sri Lanka’s most prominent and provocative story tellers Carl Muller and Yasmine Gooneratne in conversation with Nury Vittachi

Sponsored by Sri Lanka Telecom

Location: The Hall de Galle

Learn about the myths and realities of Climate Change. Explore Sri Lanka’s position from tourism to conservation.

Featuring Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, Susan Elderkin, Rory Spowers,Vikrom Mathur, Kim Kindersley & Ranil Senanayake.

In association with Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Karen Roberts, Shyam Selvadurai, Randy Boyagoda & Channa Wickremesekera.

Explore the meaning of Diaspora and what impact it has on the writing of these authors.

Moderator: Richard Simon

Sponsored by The University of Melbourne

Location: The Hall de Galle

Brian Keenan, international travel writer discusses his intimate account of being held hostage for five years in Lebanon with Simon Winchester.         

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Listen to Tom Isaacs’ remarkable story of an inspirational walk around the coastline of Britain and coping with Parkinson's from the age of 27. Tom’s determination to fight Parkinson’s sets him apart.

Location: The Hall de Galle

Hear from Sri Lankan Cricketer Kumar Sangakkara and writers Kamila Shamsie, Tishani Doshi and Rahul Bhattacharya about their passion for the game.

Moderator: Michael Roberts

Sponsored by Etv

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Explore the literary treatment of prejudice (racial, sexual, cultural) with contemporary writers Kamila Shamsie, Channa Wickremesekera and Shyam Selvadurai..

Moderator: Rama Mani

Location: Hall de Galle

Explore the increasingly multicultural nature of writing and the ongoing influence of globalisation, imperialism and postcolonialism with Michael Roberts, Randy Boyagoda, and John Mateer.

Moderator: Nury Vittachi

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Featuring Simon Winchester and Hilali Noordeen

A range of eclectic subjects fascinate this well-respected journalist and writer. Hear many stories including the story of the Oxford English Dictionary, a scintillating account of the creation of the greatest monument erected to a living language.

Location: The Hall de Galle

Featuring Yasmine Gooneratne, Jean Arasanayagam, Vijita Fernando, Anne Ranasinghe & Punyakante  Wijenaike.

Enjoy a fascinating discussion with these trailblazing writers as they discuss their varied lives and writing passions.

Moderator: Deepika Shetty

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Featuring Alexander McCall Smith
An in-depth conversation with author of the much feted No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Find out how Precious Ramotswe changed the life of an established author of forty books and distinguished professor of medical law.

Location: The Hall de Galle

Kamila Shamsie, John Zubrzycki, Sandra Hoffmann and Julian West

Some are novelists, some are journalists some are both. Hear them discuss their motivations and the gulf or the bridge between fact and fiction. 

Moderator:  William Dalrymple

Sponsored by Wijeya Newspapers Ltd

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Come and listen to Shyam Selvadurai, groundbreaking author of Sri Lanka’s first gay novel Funny Boy in conversation with Ashok Ferrey, as they discuss love, life and writing.

Location: The Hall de Galle

Sponsored by Emirates

Indi Samarajiva, Deepika Shetty, Nazreen Sansoni, Sanjana Hattotuwa, Ravana and
Iresha Dilhani.

Do blogs today better capture who we are and what we imagine ourselves to be?
This panel will bring together leading and award winning bloggers and writers to explore these issues in a provocative and engaging discussion.

Moderator:  Nury Vittachi

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Why do writers write? The compulsion, the muse, the audience and the writer.

Featuring Chris Stewart, Tishani Doshi, Yasmine Gooneratne, Indran Amirthanayagam and Brian Keenan.

Location: The Hall de Galle

Ever heard of the Indian Prince who lost it all in the Australian outback? Get ready for a history lesson like no other in this evocative story by award-winning journalist John Zubrzycki.

Moderator: William Dalrymple

 Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Vikram Seth author of the epic best-selling novel of postcolonial India, A Suitable Boy, in conversation with journalist, blogger and news producer Deepika Shetty.

Location: The Hall de Galle

Kamila Shamsie, Louise Dean , Karen Roberts, A. Santhan and Lal Medawattegedara.

Hear these authors discuss the impact & significance of living in a conflict zone on their work.

Moderator:  Sharmini Boyle

Location: Maritime Museum, Galle Fort

Listen to this eminent group discussing how effectively the written and spoken word may be used as a mechanism for peace.

Rajiva Wijesinha, A. Santhan, Neloufer de Mel, Sanjana Hattotuwa & Jean Arasanayagam  

Moderator: Rama Mani

Sponsored by Sri Lanka Telecom

Location: The Eddystone Hall, The Lighthouse Hotel

Join world renowned author and polemicist Gore Vidal in conversation with Simon Winchester.

Location: The Eddystone Hall, The Lighthouse Hotel