The shortlisted entries of the Fairway National Literary Award 2016 will be announced on the 27th of November at the Hilton Residencies, Colombo-2. Along with this announcement of the shortlisted entries for the three language categories, the distinguished and highly acclaimed panels of judges for each of the three languages will be revealed.

The entries for the literary award closed on the 15th September with an overwhelming response from writers and publishers, receiving an impressive 89 entries for the first edition. Novels published in 2014/15 in the two national languages and English are eligible to win this prize. This award was initiated by Fairway Holdings to recognise and acknowledge the writers of our country and to ensure that their skills will be appreciated along with the recognition of an award and an attractive cash reward.

Three to five publications from each language will be shortlisted for this award and the best novel comprising of the most excellent and creative work from each stream as per the decision of the panels of judges will be eligible for a cash award of Rupees Five Hundred Thousand. Additionally, every book that has been shortlisted will be rewarded with a sum of Rupees One Hundred Thousand each.

Commenting on this, Fairway Holdings Chairman Hemaka de Alwis stated, “We are proud to have taken this step to recognise the literary skills of our own writers. Our purpose is to recognise, promote and encourage Sri Lankan authors to strive for literary excellence. We are happy with the over whelming response we have received, 89 entries in all. The rewards and recognition offered for the chosen works are attractive and we are confident that they will encourage more and more budding writers to submit their work in the coming years”.

The Fairway National Literary Award Ceremony will be held in Galle on the 15th of January for the first time to coincide with the Fairway Galle Literary Festival, which is an internationally acclaimed event. The award has been set up in the hope of not only recognising but also promoting the literary efforts of our local writers on an international platform.

The Fairway Galle Literary Festival will be held in three cities from this upcoming edition in an effort to take it to a wider audience. The festival will be held in January, on 8-9th in Kandy, 14-17th in Galle and 23-24th in Jaffna.