Dense green forests in Yala, white-sand coasts in Trincomalee, azure waters off the south coast, Anuradhapura’s ancient temples, and cricket. Civil war, political assassinations, internally displaced communities, industrial-scale corruption. All are Sri Lanka. As are smug bureaucrats, nosy neighbours, and stray dogs with serious axes to grind. Through the eyes of Andrew Fidel Fernando, cricket writer par excellence, both a local and a tourist in his home country, Sri Lanka comes alive as he hurtles down hills in Kandy, breathes in the history at the rock fortress of Sigiriya, grapples with the aftermath of war in Jaffna, and has himself evicted from restaurants near Galle. Weaving through all manner of villages, paddy fields, mountains, jungles and marshlands, and pausing for the pests at grimy guesthouses and the vacationers of luxury hotels, Fernando has the time for every genre of person and wildlife in this chaotic, exquisite, frustrating, bewitching, tumultuous and intoxicating land. Hilariously witty yet wistfully sombre, Upon a Sleepless Isle is the story of a country and a people caught between long historical traditions and global capitalism, resulting in this ingenious paradise
Review
‘For its assured story-telling, keen observation, dry humour and sensitive navigation of complex and difficult truths; its effortless intertwining of fact and fable, history and anecdote in a rich tapestry of characters; for its incisive yet empathetic exploration of the ethos of a multicultural people grappling with its post-war realities, religious tensions and deep ethnic binds; a literary work that is both engaging and judicious in its descriptive writing of place, its tracing of the cartographies of memory and landscape, combining and creating a multitude of narrative pathways through a rich terrain of material. For its presentation of a nuanced and insightful reflection of the cultural, political and historical context of a country through the medium of a contemporary traveller’s tale, the Gratiaen Prize 2019 is awarded to Upon A Sleepless Isle by Andrew Fidel Fernando’ Gratiaen Prize Citation
‘A hilarious, nuanced and elegant work that grapples with Sri Lanka’s complexities, and celebrates its beauty’ Shehan Karunatilaka, author of the Booker Prize-winning The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
‘Utterly engaging, wickedly funny, and quite heroic’ Business Standard
‘Unpredictable, hilarious, and informative’ Daily Mirror
‘Full of vivid descriptions ... engaging and entertaining’ Hindustan Times
‘A sincere and original work by an intelligent observer with a keen sense of place’ Mint Lounge
‘A heartfelt, compelling read’ Outlook Traveller
‘A compelling capture of Sri Lanka’s irrepressible character and a textured patina of life, love and loss’ Sunday Island
‘A book modern Sri Lanka needed’ The Critic
About the Author
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a Colombo-based writer and satirist, working mainly for ESPNcricinfo. He travels, eats, cooks, scuba dives, regularly bungles all of the above, and relishes collecting stories that grapple with history and lay bare the soul of a place, particularly in his native Sri Lanka. This book, a labour of love, is his first.
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