Write to Reconcile: An Anthology

Write to Reconcile, is a creative writing project in English undertaken by The National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, in conjunction with the internationally renowned Sri Lankan author, Shyam Selvadurai, who serves as Project Director. The First Write to Reconcile project took place between January and Sept 2013. The aim of the project was to bring together emerging Sri Lankan writers within the country who were interested in writing creative pieces (fiction, memoir or poetry) on the issues of conflict, peace, reconciliation, memory and trauma, as they related to Sri Lanka. Write to Reconcile sought to develop a community of like-minded individuals committed to contributing, through their writing, to the process of peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka; a community of individuals committed to also reflecting the different points of views from the multiple communities that make up Sri Lanka. Write to Reconcile was conducted free of charge for 24 selected participants consisting of a mix of beginning and emerging writers between the ages of 18 to 29, as well as teachers interested in creative writing. Entry into the project was competitive, with interested participants submitting a creative piece for evaluation. The Project, sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the American Centre, consisted of two four-day Residential Workshops and two Online Forums, followed by the publication of the participants' work in an anthology at a book launch on September 4th 2013. All costs were borne by the project. It was open to all applicants who were Sri Lankan or dual citizens. www.writetoreconcile.com