Festival founder Geoffrey Dobbs welcomes FLGF 2018 authors at a luncheon on Taprobane Island, off the coast of Weligama, Sri Lanka.

Participants and authors were hosted by the festival’s title sponsor Fairway Holdings to celebrate the start of the 2018 Fairway Galle Literary Festival.

An excursion led by well-known architect, Channa Daswatte, took a look at buildings that are part of the modern architectural history of Sri Lanka. 

David Dabydeen discusses ‘Turner’, written in response to Turner’s famous painting of 1840, where the “slaves who have been drowning in Turner’s sea for centuries” are given a voice.

A workshop, conducted by, Michael Kumpfmüller offered an opportunity to practice the craft of writing fiction.

Chef Emily Dobbs shared her favourite Sri Lankan-inspired recipes for every meal and season, including breakfast, short eats, and a selection of curries and their accompaniments.

Sandra Jensen’s workshop taught participants the what, why and how to writing Flash Fiction – a complete story in under 1000 words or less.

In this session, Sallyanne Atkinson discussed her childhood memories of Ceylon, her subsequent career as a trailblazing citizen of Australia and becoming the first female Lord Mayor of Brisbane.

This session brought together two acclaimed writers of Sri Lankan origin who live and work abroad – one in Australia, one in the USA – but whose work is profoundly connected to their Sri Lankan origins.

A lunch hosted by Kushanava Choudhury and Jaina Sanga discussing their works which work speaks eloquently of the competing claims of home and dream.

A private lunch with David Dabydeen where he shared his views on art and the colonial experience and the particular resonance of this topic for the Caribbean.

Attendees enjoyed a private lunch with the Editor of Harper’s Bazaar and got the opportunity to hear first hand about her best-selling biography of Coco Chanel.

Writer and essayist Pankaj Mishra presented the argument of his groundbreaking 2017 publication Age of Anger: A History of the Present.

Writer Ashok Ferrey, conducted this workshop aimed at helping writers to find and to develop their distinctive writing style.

The Reverend Dr. Malcolm Guite, Chaplain of Girton College Cambridge, read from his critically acclaimed poetry, and shared his experiences of music and poetry.

A conversation with author Katharine Norbury, where she shared the compelling story of the way she came to write The Fish Ladder, a work that has been variously described as memoir, travelogue and nature writing.

An excursion conducted by Galle Fort resident Uzman Anver, which took guests on a historical tour of the ramparts and bastions of the Dutch Galle Fort.