For the seventh edition of the French Spring Festival, the Sri Lankan writer Ashok Ferrey led a conference and read some extracts in French and English of his fifth book The Ceaseless Chatter of Demons.
The event took place on June 19 at the Residence of France in the presence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Maithree Wickremesinghe.
This literary meeting was a way to celebrate for the first time in 60 years, the translation and the publication in France of a Sri Lankan novel written by a local author.
“The first launch of the French translation of this novel took place under the auspices of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Paris, in the UNESCO premises last April. I was there of course… alongside with French writers, and many of your friends. The acquisition of the French translation rights of your novel by one of France’s leading publishing houses marks a new step for modern Sri Lankan fiction,” said, the Ambassador of France to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Jean-Marin Schuh.
“ This novel is being published on a large commercial scale and it is a superb achievement. So, dear Ashok, after this beautiful Parisian episode, it is a great pleasure for us to welcome you here tonight. Your friendship with France has just been perfectly illustrated by this beautiful translation,” the Ambassador said.
Ashok Ferrey was born in Sri Lanka but spent much of his youth in Africa and England. A Graduate of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, he returned to Colombo in 1988. An architect, sports coach and TV host, it is later that he started writing.
His first book published in 2005 Colpetty People, was a huge commercial success that allowed him to acquire an international reputation.
He has been nominated several times for the Gratiaen Prize, Sri Lanka’s first literary award, and is currently a best-selling English-language novelist in the country.