The 67th State Literary Awards Ceremony was held yesterday (18) afternoon at Temple Trees, chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.
The awards ceremony, jointly organized by the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Sri Lanka Arts Council, and the State Literary Panel, recognized literary creations for the year 2024.
Three eminent artists who have made an immense contribution to nurturing Sri Lankan literature were honoured with the ‘Sahithya Rathna’ award. The recipients were senior litterateur Somaratne Balasuriya for Sinhala medium, veteran litterateur M.A. Al Asumath for Tamil medium and veteran writer Premini Amarasinghe for English medium.
“67th State Literary Awards Ceremony”
At this year’s State Literary Awards ceremony, ‘Piyasara Samaya’ written by Chandraratna Bandara was awarded the Best Original Novel. ‘Nanperiyal’ by Nissanka Wijemannne was recognized as the Best Original Short Story Collection, and Tharindra Galahena’s ‘Me Wahunu Dora Janel Kotharam Shoka Janaka Da’ received the award for Best Original Poetry Collection.
A large number of senior and young writers from Sinhala, Tamil, and English languages, representing the Sri Lankan literary field, were honoured. A total of 47 awards were presented, including for Best Cover Design, Best Science Fiction, and Best Translated Novel.
In addition to the award-winning authors, literary works that were nominated for the final round were also recognized with certificates and cash prizes.
The event was attended by Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senewi, Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs; Ruwan Mapalagama, Gampaha District Member of Parliament; Pradeep Saputhantri, Secretary to the Prime Minister; Prince Senadheera, Secretary to the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs; K.S. Dilhani, Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs; Kirthi Welisarage, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Arts Council; Kamal Perera, Chairman of the State Literary Panel; and senior litterateur Dr. Ratna Sri Wijesinghe, along with many other literary figures.
