A renowned Sri Lankan novelist and former journalist Anula de Silva has been conferred with ‘Dayawati Modi Stree Shakti Samman’ by India’s Stree Shakti organization.
The award was presented to Anula de Silva by Founder of Stree Shakti, Rakha Mody and President of Stree Shakti, Dr. Arati Sexena at a ceremony which coincided with the opening of the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Auditorium at the University of Ruhuna recently. Vice Chancellor, Prof Gamini Senanayake was also present on the occasion.
Dayawati Modi Stree Shakti Samman, instituted in 1998 by Stree Shakti is an award given by the women, for the women, of the women, and in memory of an extraordinary woman. It is awarded to ‘a woman who dared to dream and had the ability to translate her dream into reality’, according to the organizers.
“This was the first time a Sri Lankan has been chosen for this award. Last year the award was conferred on Lily Thapa of Nepal by SAARC Secretary General.
Kolkata-based Stree Shakti awarding the Silver plaque to Anula de Silva said in a statement, “Sri Lanka and India have a cultural bonding since the time of Princess Sangamiththa. Our association with the University of Ruhuna will contribute significantly in empowering women and creating visibility for their achievement.
A native of Ambalangoda, Anula completed her higher studies at the University of Peradeniya.
Over the past five decades, Anula de Silva has earned a reputation for writing books full of optimism, awe-inspiring narratives set on local traditions, family values and incidents that would perhaps disappear from our society after her generation. As a celebrated Sinhala writer, Anula is the author of over 120 works that include novels, short stories and translations.
Her journalism career began at Lake House – when she became a full-time writer with the children’s weekly, Mihira. Her career flourished during this time as she got the opportunity to contribute to several other newspapers published by Lake House.
Later she joined Wijaya Newspapers, as the first editor of ‘Sirikatha’, a women’s weekly and she also became the editor of ‘Vanitha Viththi’ published by the same newspaper organisation. Anula has also worked as a teacher and a radio producer where she was able to do programs to motivate women in all walks of life.
Anula has received several other accolades, including, an award for her contributions to women’s rights and developments through media from Law College in 2007; journalism lifetime award from the Editors’ Guild in 2017; the Abhimani Development Foundation award recognising her contributions to women and media through literature in 2015, Kalabhushana award for creative writing from the Cultural Department in 2017 and state literary award for youth literature in 2017.