Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2019

As in previous years, the Department’s first-year students participated in the Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2019 under the North-South University Collaboration. Those who took part are Haadiyah Marikar, Husna Naleer, Kaumadi Jayaweera, Lara Wijesuriya, Rasudula Dissanayake, Shamika Kulasingham, Shamla Naleer, and Uvini Hettiarachchi.

Student Testimonial: “None of us had experienced a full-stay at the Galle Literary Festival before, and getting selected to participate for this year’s event along with seven others to represent our university, was a dream come true for all of us! On top of that, receiving complementary Festival Passes, accommodation, meals and book and transport allowances made our Festival experience an incredible one. The added bonus was it was hosted in one of the picturesque cities of Sri Lanka which means you could get all touristy.

The name of the festival says it all. It is a feast of reading, writing, discussions, and sharing experiences through written words, songs and movies. We got the opportunity to listen to authors, witness reading sessions, take part in song writing sessions and the cherry on top of it was when we had the opportunity to personally interact with the authors and get our books signed. This experience was one a kind; exhilarating, exhausting (the good kind) and definitely unforgettable. We are grateful to everyone who made this possible.

We not only enjoyed the sessions but were also motivated as we listened to the accomplished people speak about their life experiences. May it have been Anthony Horowitz saying ‘Never give up’ or Lucy Fleming relating stories about her uncle Ian Fleming, we relished the fact that we were able to gain an insight into the authors’ worlds, experiences, and a peak behind the scenes to how many great stories come to be published. The bookworm in us was truly thankful to have been there.

Now looking back, it was more than just a Literary festival to us. The time we as a group spent at the dorm, long strolls along the Galle fort, trying to figure out our way, our own little sunset series, photoshoots, singing along to Taylor Swift while listening to the BnS concert by the side of the road and all the little things, kindled a friendship that we will cherish forever”.