Lalitha Withanachchi

Last updated

Lalitha Karalliadde Withanachchi [1] also spelt as Lalitha Witanachchi was a Sri Lankan educator, journalist and writer. She worked as a journalist at Daily News for 12 years. [2] She was the joint winner of the inaugural edition of the Gratiaen Prize. [3]

Contents

Biography

Lalitha was born to a family background of Kandyan descent in January 1927 at Bandarawela, Uva Province. She began her primary education at Hillwood College in Kandy. Her husband Douglas Witanachchi served as a District Land Officer in Anuradhapura. [1]

Career

She completed her higher education at the University of Ceylon and graduated with Geography Honors in 1950. Prior to her university entrance, she cleared the university entrance examination with flying colors and ended up winning an exhibition award in geography. [1] She also became the first female graduate hailing from Uva Province. [2] She obtained her post-graduate diploma in education in 1963 from the University of Peradeniya. She taught English and Geography at the Good Shepherd Convent in Nuwara Eliya. [2]

Prominent Sinhala writer E. R. Eratne, who served as the principal of Anuradhapura Central College in the 1950s, recruited Lalitha Withanachchi as one of the teachers for the Central College. It was reported that E. R. Eratne was propelled to take key measures by bringing the likes of Lalitha Withanachchi in order to fill the vacancy of teachers at Central College. [1] She eventually spent three decades as a teacher. She also joined the public service of Sokoto State, Nigeria, and was subsequently appointed as the Senior Master of English at the Haliru Abdu Teachers’ College in Bernin Kebbi. [2]

In September 1981, she joined the Lake House Group of Newspapers and began working at the Features Desk of the Daily News publication. [4] She resigned from the Lake House Group of Newspapers in December 1995. She wrote and published several books including Customs and Rituals of Sinhala Buddhists, Little Bamboo, The Paddy Bird and The Wind Blows over the Hills. [1]

Awards

She claimed the first prize in an International Short Story Contest hosted by the Linguistics Department of the Macquarie University in Australia for her short story titled The Truth, which was based on the true story behind the 1983 Black July riots in Sri Lanka. [5] She was also adjudged the joint winner of the prestigious Gratiaen Award in 1993, along with Carl Muller. [6] [3]

She also received the Esmond Wickramasinghe Award for Journalism in English for her article titled My Days at Anuradhapura Central College. She was conferred with the prestigious Kala Bhoosana Award in recognition of her contributions to the arts and English literature. In 1993, she received the Uva Erudites Award during a special event organized by the then Governor of Uva Province to honor persons born in the Uva Province who had achieved significant achievements in their respective fields. [2]

Death

She died on 26 September 2021 at the age of 94.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nalanda College, Colombo</span> National school in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Nalanda College is a leading Buddhist school in Sri Lanka where provides primary and secondary education for Sri Lankan boys. The school was established by P. de S. Kularatne as an offshoot of Ananda College Colombo and was registered as a separate school on 1 November 1924.

The Battle of Randeniwela was a battle fought on 25 August 1630 in the Sinhalese–Portuguese War. It was fought between Portuguese Empire and King Senarth's youngest son Prince Maha Astana, who would later become Rajasinghe II against Portuguese forces commanded by then Governor Constantinu De Sá de Noronha. It was fought at Randeniwela near Wellawaya, a place close to the town of Badulla. The battle broke off when Constantino de Sá launched the invasion via Badulla. The Portuguese army suffered a complete rout subsequent to a mass defection by its Lascarin contingent.

The Gratiaen Prize is an annual literary prize for the best work of literary writing in English by a resident of Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1992 by the Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje with the money he received as joint-winner of the Booker Prize for his novel The English Patient. The prize is named after Ondaatje's mother, Doris Gratiaen.

Vidyartha College is an all-male national school located in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. The college was founded in 1942 by the Vidyartha Society, and is currently run by the Government of Sri Lanka. The college has two sections: the primary section which includes grades 1–5; and the secondary section which includes students in grades 6–13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcelline Jayakody</span>

Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was a Sri Lankan Catholic priest, musician, lyricist, author, journalist and an exponent of indigenous culture. He is attributed with the epithet 'පන්සලේ පියතුමා'. Ven. Dr. Ittapane Dhammalankara Thera authored a book on Jayakody's life, මල් පැලේ උපන් පන්සලේ පියතුමා,, which is recorded as the first book in the world by a Buddhist prelate on a Catholic priest.

Vivimarie VanderPoorten is a Sri Lankan poet. Her book Nothing Prepares You won the 2007 Gratiaen Prize. She was also awarded the 2009 SAARC Poetry Award in Delhi.

Heendeniya Vidanaralalage Punya Heendeniya, popularly as Punya Heendeniya, is a former Sri Lankan cinema actress who resides in England.

Kala Keerthi Wijetunga Karunaratne Edwin Ariyadasa, popularly known as Edwin Ariyadasa, was a Sri Lankan Sinhalese journalist. He was a well known newspaper editor, author and a media consultant. Considered as an icon in Sri Lankan media, he was a pioneer in bilingual communication and wrote about Sinhala cinema in English in Sri Lanka. He was also the pioneer teacher who brought the subject of communication closer to general public.

Kala Keerthi Sybil Wettasinghe was a children's book writer and an illustrator in Sri Lanka. Considered as the doyen of children's literature in Sri Lanka, Wettasinghe has produced more than 200 children's books which have been translated into several languages. Two of her best known works are "Child In Me" and "Eternally Yours".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rohana Weerasinghe</span> Sri Lankan musician, composer and singer (born 1949)

DR. Rohana Weerasinghe, is a Sri Lankan musician, composer and singer.

Madhubhashini Disanayaka Ratnayaka is a Sri Lankan academic and author. Her novel There is Something I Have to Tell You won the Gratiaen Prize in 2011. She is the Head of English Language at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

<i>Ho Gaana Pokuna</i> 2015 Sri Lankan film

Ho Gana Pokuna (The Singing Pond) (Sinhala: හෝ ගානා පොකුණ) is a 2015 Sri Lankan children's musical drama film written and directed by Indika Ferdinando. It depicts a teacher in a remote village, Uma (Anasuya Subasinghe), teaching her students to focus on something they have never seen before.

Sri Lankan Hip Hop is a part of the Asian hip hop culture. This multilingual genre features Sinhala, Tamil and English.

The H.A.I. Goonetileke Prize for Literary Translation is a bi-annual literary prize in Sri Lanka. It is awarded by the Gratiaen Trust, which also awards the Gratiaen Prize, for the translation of Sinhala or Tamil language creative writing into English. It was established in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Ranaweera</span> Sri Lankan feminist writer and journalist

Eva Ranaweera was feminist writer, poet and journalist who wrote in both English and Sinhala. She was the first editor of the magazine Vanitha Viththi.

Sakuntala Sachithanandan is a Sri Lankan poet, lawyer and storyteller. Her literary work often focused on themes such as poverty, social inequalities, animals, children and exploitation of labourers.

Elmo Jayawardena is a Sri Lankan pilot, philanthropist, writer, novelist, storyteller and author. He is the founder and President of AFLAC International, a humanitarian organization that actively works towards alleviating poverty. He won the Gratiaen Prize for his novel Sam's Story (2001).

Ruwanthie de Chickera also spelt as Ruwanthi de Chickera is a Sri Lankan playwright, dramatist, screenwriter, activist, writer and theatre director. She has engaged in research on various fields including politics, sexuality, education, religion, arts, violence and culture. She jointly won the Gratiaen Prize along with Lakshmi de Silva in 2000.

Manel Eriyagama is a Sri Lankan academic, translator and author. In 2023, she won the H. A. I. Goonetileke Prize for her translation work titled Jewels, which is a compilation of 14 Sinhala short stories by contemporary writers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "APPRECIATIONS". Print Edition - The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Weerasooriya, Sahan (2021-10-03). "Lalitha. K. Witanachchi, veteran teacher, talented journalist, award winning author" . Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  3. 1 2 "The literary buzz for the Gratiaen Prize begins". www.sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  4. ↑ "A smile on every face". archives.sundayobserver.lk. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  5. ↑ "Passionate Pen". archives.sundayobserver.lk. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  6. ↑ "Gratiaen award : a few owe so much to so many". www.sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.