Author Nayomi Munaweera discusses her novel about the Sri Lankan civil war with Upper School
By Harper Oreck '19
Earlier this month, Poly's Global Initiatives Program, in partnership with the Upper School Writers’ Center, hosted author Nayomi Munaweera, who spoke to Upper School students about her novels, "Island of a Thousand Mirrors" and "What Lies Between Us." Munaweera discussed her personal connection to the devastating conflict in Sri Lanka and shared her experiences writing and researching for her first book, which gives an immersive account of the war from the perspective of two Sri Lankan women.
Earlier this month, Poly's Global Initiatives Program, in partnership with the Upper School Writers’ Center, hosted author Nayomi Munaweera, who spoke to Upper School students about her novels, "Island of a Thousand Mirrors" and "What Lies Between Us." Munaweera discussed her personal connection to the devastating conflict in Sri Lanka and shared her experiences writing and researching for her first book, which gives an immersive account of the war from the perspective of two Sri Lankan women.
To begin the assembly, Munaweera explained why she had decided to write about the Sri Lankan civil war. Munaweera, whose family is Sinhalese, was born in Sri Lanka and fled to Nigeria with her family when she was 3 years old. After living in Nigeria for several years, Munaweera moved to the US and attended nearby Arcadia High School. At the assembly, Munaweera described the central conflict of the war — discord between Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese ethnic majority and Tamil minority — and offered her insights into the origins of the conflict, which arose from both the growing tensions between Tamil and Sinhalese groups and the lasting effects of British colonialism.
As Munaweera shared, her family maintained a close connection to the conflict even after leaving Sri Lanka, and she grew up following the events of the war. After college, she began writing a novel about two students living in San Francisco, but she found that her novel was consistently coming back to the subject of the Sri Lankan civil war, so she decided to focus on that. Drawing on both her own knowledge of the war and information from published survivor accounts, Munaweera tells the story of the war through the eyes of two narrators, humanizing both sides of the conflict while also conveying the extent of wartime atrocities committed by both groups.
After discussing the novel’s background, Munaweera read several moving passages from her book. The excerpts described the breadth of devastation in Sri Lanka, recognized the 80,000 people who died in the war, and discussed the collective mourning process that, for many Sri Lankans, continues to this day.
As Munaweera shared, her family maintained a close connection to the conflict even after leaving Sri Lanka, and she grew up following the events of the war. After college, she began writing a novel about two students living in San Francisco, but she found that her novel was consistently coming back to the subject of the Sri Lankan civil war, so she decided to focus on that. Drawing on both her own knowledge of the war and information from published survivor accounts, Munaweera tells the story of the war through the eyes of two narrators, humanizing both sides of the conflict while also conveying the extent of wartime atrocities committed by both groups.
After discussing the novel’s background, Munaweera read several moving passages from her book. The excerpts described the breadth of devastation in Sri Lanka, recognized the 80,000 people who died in the war, and discussed the collective mourning process that, for many Sri Lankans, continues to this day.
While on campus,Munaweera also visited Grace Hamilton’s World Cultures/South Asia class and spoke to poetry students and current Global Scholar candidates in a smaller classroom discussion, where she described her writing process and her involvement in Write to Reconcile, a residential creative writing program for Sri Lankan writers. She told students about how she spends two weeks every summer leading the program, which is Sri Lanka’s only creative writing institute, alongside Sri Lankan author Shyam Selvadurai.
Munweera answered student questions about the publication of her novel and the challenge of writing scenes that included graphic violence or sexual assault, which affected hundreds of thousands of people during the war but were difficult to accurately and respectfully depict.
Munweera answered student questions about the publication of her novel and the challenge of writing scenes that included graphic violence or sexual assault, which affected hundreds of thousands of people during the war but were difficult to accurately and respectfully depict.
Munaweera brought both her in-depth understanding of the Sri Lankan civil war and her writing experience and skill to Poly, and students had the unique opportunity to learn more about this important conflict and the role of artistic expression in its ongoing reconciliation process.
Resources
Policies
©2024 Polytechnic School. All Rights Reserved