An independent publisher of innovative non-fiction based in Colombo, Tambapanni Academic Publishers specialize in the humanities and social sciences, covering the complete publication spectrum from monographs to edited volumes.

We publish original and pioneering works relevant to Sri Lanka and South Asia, ranging from history to anthropology to architecture. Our publications are for the global, regional and Sri Lankan reader and we are committed to the highest editorial standards. While academic in nature, many books on our list are also of interest to a general readership.

Our commitment to the diffusion of ideas across languages means we are supporting a niche program of translations of key works into Sinhala, and in the future we plan to do this into Tamil as well.

TAP has a dual mandate in keeping with its location in the global South: it is deeply committed to answering the need of readers in Sri Lanka for scholarly works of excellence at an affordable price, and it is dedicated to hands-on working with talented new authors, providing them with a gateway to global recognition.

Tambapanni Academic Publishers (Pvt) Limited was incorporated as a  private limited liability company in Sri Lanka in 2020 bearing company registration number PV 00222084.

Tambapanni Academic Publishers cordially invite you to join us for an enriching conversation between Booker winning novelist Shehan Karunatilaka and renowned sociologist Sasanka Perera on how academic research can enhance creative work.

Focusing on integrating academic research into creative writing, Shehan Karunathilaka and Sasanka Perera will discuss how to maintain ‘authenticity while blurring the lines between reality and fiction.

In 2022, Karunatilaka’s ghost protagonist, Maali Almeida captured audiences worldwide with his Booker prize win.  Karunatilaka spent years working on the book, blending his understanding of character and plot with historical, political and academic research

Perera, a sociologist by training, has spent many years researching into the areas of culture and its politics in South Asia focusing on religious and ethnic identities, visual semantics and spirt religion including people’s understanding of ghosts in specific political conditions. He also has an abiding interest in poetry, photography and translating.

Date :- Thursday, 29th of August 2024

Time :- 6.00 pm to 7.30 pm Colombo Standard Time

Zoom Link :-
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/85657700271?pwd=aD9oeWFNdsqID8PoumBpdOB9Ot9Rpt.1

Meeting ID: 856 5770 0271
Passcode: 088774

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Learn more about our Speakers :-

Shehan Karunatilaka is the winner of the 2022 Booker Prize for his second novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida.  He is also the author of Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, winner of the DSC Prize, the Commonwealth Book Prize, and the Gratien Prize. Recently, he published a collection of short stories titled The Birth Lottery and Other Surprises. Shehan also has authored several kids books with his brother Lalith, under his Papaya Books publishing house. www.papaya-books.com

Shehan has written features for The Guardian, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, GQ, National Geographic, Conde Nast and Wisden. He has played bass with Sri Lankan rock bands Powercut Circus and the Brass Monkey Band, and co-written the screenplay to ‘800,’ the 2023 movie biopic of legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralidaran.

Born in Sri Lanka, he studied in New Zealand and has lived and worked in London, Amsterdam and Singapore. He lives in Colombo with his family, his guitars and his unfinished stories. www.shehanwriter.com

Dr. Sasanka Perera is Professor of Sociology. His research interests include contemporary social theory with an emphasis on the idea of culture and its politics, urban space, education, art and visual culture in South Asia, methodological implications of photography, and politics of nationalism and ethnicity. His writings have been published extensively, with some of his works also having been translated into Tamil, Japanese, and Spanish. He is the founding editor of the bi-annual journal Society and Culture in South Asia Journal, co-published by Sage and South Asian University. He is also a poet, photographer, and blogger; his collection of poems and photographs from three countries was published in 2013.

Moderator: Thirangie Jayatilake, is a Sri Lankan writer and editor with a B.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from New York University and a M.A. in Creative Writing, Publishing, and Editing from the University of Melbourne. Thirangie’s work has been published in creative journals and she has served as an editor at Antithesis Journal, Grattan Street Press, Postscript Magazine, and Perera-Hussein Publishing House. She currently teaches Media Studies at the University of Melbourne, and is the Inclusion and Accessibility Advisor for Editors Victoria.