The Asian Review Sinhala offers Sri Lankan authors a prestigious weekly literary platform in Gampaha. Submit 6 weeks before your desired event date with video clips, author photos, and biography to theasianreviewsinhala@gmail.com. All events are free and open to authors regardless of location, publishing history, or reputation.
In early 20th-century New York, revolutionary artists abandoned fancy subjects to capture gritty, unvarnished American life. The Ashcan School painted tenements and taverns instead of Fifth Avenue socialites, earning the nickname “apostles of ugliness.” This democratic movement proved ordinary struggles deserved the highest artistic treatment, transforming how America saw itself.
In recent decades, Korean literature has emerged from relative obscurity to claim its rightful place on the world stage, bringing with it distinctive narrative approaches, thematic concerns, and aesthetic sensibilities that have significantly expanded the palette of global literature
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s revolutionary decision to abandon English for Gikuyu represented more than linguistic choice—it constituted a radical political act challenging European cultural hegemony. His transformation from James Ngugi symbolises the broader decolonisation project that has defined his career, fundamentally reshaping postcolonial literature and inspiring indigenous language movements worldwide.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Half of a Yellow Sun” stands as one of the most compelling and devastating literary works to emerge from postcolonial African literature, offering readers an unflinching examination of the Nigerian Civil War through the interconnected lives of characters whose personal struggles mirror the broader tragedy of a nation tearing itself apart.
I sat in the graveyard, merging effortlessly in the background. When you have crossed your seventies, and you have mastered the art of sitting quietly without taking much interest in your surroundings, letting the hours slip away, it is easier to overlook you. In my case, I was worried the occasional visitor to the graveyard might think I was one of the inhabitants, taking a stroll to free their legs, cramped from lying in the grave for too long!
Addonia’s emphasis on the body as the primary site of both oppression and liberation distinguishes his approach. Unlike the cool intellectual distance that characterizes much postcolonial critique, Addonia insists on the primacy of physical experience.
‘Brussels, Naked’ is an experimental novel in the form of twelve interconnected novellas, each named after municipalities or neighbourhoods in Brussels, and each with a different narrator. It covers a period of fifteen years and is built around three main arcs: the life of Iris, Brussels itself as a protagonist and the EU crises, captured in the stories of ordinary people.
NoViolet Bulawayo’s Glory transforms fictional Jidada—populated entirely by animals—into a devastating mirror of postcolonial African governance. This Booker-shortlisted novel tears through liberation mythology with surgical precision, revealing how revolutionary heroes become the very tyrants they once fought, creating a ferocious political allegory that transcends any single nation’s borders.
Interestingly, most political and business books are ghostwritten. If it is widely known that a particular genre of book is ghostwritten, there is no surprise or deception.
“Blindsighted” is a masterclass in suspense. Slaughter expertly builds tension with each passing chapter, leading the reader down a labyrinth of twists and turns. Just when you think you’ve unravelled the truth, Slaughter throws another curveball, keeping you guessing until the very last page.
The Asian Review 