Sri Lanka's premier literary event returns as a five-day festival, kicking off on January 13, 2016, as the Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2016, where a highly-anticipated roster of internationally- and locally-renowned headliners, including writers, authors, historians, poets and biographers, will once again take centre stage.

The 2016 festival team welcomes on board Fairway Holdings as its title sponsor, and looks forward to working closely with Fairway, one of Sri Lanka's leading real estate developers, over the next three years. Further, the company will honour the 2016 event with the presentation of the Fairway National Literary Award, recognising novels published in Sri Lanka, in Sinhala, English and Tamil, with the winners of each category awarded Rs. 500,000each. Books shortlisted for this prize will also receive Rs. 100,000 each.

Said Hemaka de Alwis, Chairman of Fairway Holdings, the 2016 festival's title sponsor, “The Galle Literary Festival has developed into a highly acclaimed and internationally recognised event over the years and we are very pleased to be associated with the revival of this unique event as the named sponsor this year. Our involvement stretches beyond the mere financial support as a sponsor of the event. In addition, we intend to promote, recognise and reward literary excellence in Sri Lanka. We believe that all CSR activities should be focused on the development, improvement and betterment of our society. We do carry out many such activities that are focused on supporting and improving community life, education and the fine arts.”

He added, “At this year’s Galle Literary Festival, we will introduce the Fairway National Book Award for the authors of the best novels in Sinhala, Tamil and English. Through this recognition and reward we hope to encourage, develop and drive Sri Lankan authors to strive for literary excellence. Our commitment to the Galle Literary Festival includes long-term support of its activities as well as promulgating the event to a wider audience in different parts of Sri Lanka. We are proud to be associated with this prestigious event, which, we believe, will go from strength to strength over the years.”

Additionally, for the first time ever, the Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2016 will be the venue for the awarding of the coveted DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. The 2015 prize recognised Indian-American Jhumpa Lahiri for "The Lowland", while Sri Lanka's own Shehan Karunatilaka was awarded in 2012, for "Chinaman.”

Surina Narula and Manhad Narula founded the DSC Prize in 2010. “The US$ 50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is one of the most prestigious international literary awards. It has completed five successful years and has been able to deliver on its key vision to showcase and reward the best talent writing about the South Asian region and presenting it to a larger global audience. It is a unique and coveted prize and is open to authors of any ethnicity or nationality as long as the writing is about South Asia and its people,” said Surina Narula.

“We are delighted to partner with the Galle Literary Festival this year and the winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2016 will be announced on Saturday January 16th, 2016, at this prestigious festival. Being one of the leading literary festivals in the region, with its focus on South Asia, we see a lot of positive synergy in this partnership. In line with its South Asian essence, the DSC Prize would be announcing its winner in different South Asian countries across the years,” added Ms. Narula.

A new, exciting development in the works for 2016 is the addition of two-day weekend, mini-festivals in Kandy and Jaffna. The Kandy mini-festival begins on January 9, 2016, while the event in Jaffna opens on January 23, 2016. Both will feature international and local authors, writers and artists showcasingdiverse literary and artistic styles, with each area’s unique heritage expected to also play a big part in the proceedings.

Having grown beyond its traditional literature-based roots, this year's festival will feature, as in years past, a full range of activities spanning plays, concerts, art installations, fashion shows, garden and architectural tours, gastronomical journeys, community initiatives, photographic exhibitions along with plenty more fringe events.

This year, the Co-Founders of the Electric Peacock Festival are excited to announce an exclusive partnership with the Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2016. The series forms part of the Electric Peacock Festival's new music breakout platform running all year round. The partnership, part of the festival’s programme of events, will be realised in a specially curated music series featuring diverse international and local artists of various genres, from folk to rock, playing the weekend of January 15 and 16 in Galle. The highlight of which will be a first-time concert performance on the Moon Bastion Grounds within the Fort. This series is in addition to the 4th annual installment of the Electric Peacock Festival planned for December 2015.

A full agenda of events related to the Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2016 will be made available online, at www.galleliteraryfestival.com, in November 2015.While the much-looked-forward-to revelationof festival headliners is scheduled for end-October 2015.

As in previous years, a major part of Fairway Galle Literary Festival 2016 will be giving back to nearby communities, in the form of initiatives for students and teachers. This year's contributions will consist of three children’s outreach programmes, comprising a Children’s Festival, at Dharmapala Children’s Park in Galle, with the expected participation of over 2,500 children, in addition to Galle Literary Festival (GLF) Schools’ Days in Kandy and Jaffna, with each hosting 250 children. Highlights for all three initiatives include offering children the opportunity to meet with, and learn from, a number of the international and local authors and artists. Also, 80 teachers will be brought into these programmes, so that they are able to learn innovative teaching skills, which they can later share with their colleagues.

The 2016 festival team wishes to acknowledge a number of returning sponsors, including Land Rover, Colombo Jewellery Stores, Printcare, The Elysium Collection and the Wijeya Group. One such returnee is the festival's long-time hospitality partner, the Jetwing Lighthouse Hotel.

"When we opened Jetwing Lighthouse 18 years ago, we did so to transform the city of Galle and by extension the South of Sri Lanka into a destination filled with history, steeped in culture, and above all one of adventure and character. The hotel has since then become a pillar of the city’s Renaissance, and so has the Galle Literary Festival – the event itself has changed the city, the country, and the lives of those who are creatively inspired. We at Jetwing are proud to have been associated with the festival since its inception as the official hospitality partner, and even more so to see its triumphant return in 2016 in what is certain to be a festival that inspires and educates youth to create worlds and futures filled with the power of words, thoughts, and ideas,” said Hiran Cooray, the Chairman of Jetwing Hotels.

The 2016 festival team welcomes new partners Dialog and TNL, and thanks accommodation partners and friends of the festival for their continued support. The festival would not be possible without the support of each of these partners and requires the continued support of the Sri Lankan corporate world and fans of literature. To continue to keep its wide fan base engaged, the festival runsexciting and innovative programmes like "Sponsor a Writer", "Donate Air Miles", etc.