Sri Lankan Writer Wins Booker Prize
2022-10-19
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1Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka won the 2022 Booker Prize for his novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida.
2The story is about a dead war photographer on a trip to the afterlife.
3The Booker Prize is awarded to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best work of fiction written in English and published in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
4Karunatilaka received the award in person from Queen Consort Camilla of Britain on Monday and a $56,000 prize.
5The story is set in Sri Lanka during the country's civil war in 1989.
6It follows a gay war photographer and gambler Maali Almeida, who wakes up dead.
7Even in the afterlife, time is running out for Almeida.
8He only has "seven moons" to find out who killed him and to contact his loved ones still living.
9He wants to guide them to hidden photos he has taken showing the cruelty of his country's conflict.
10In his acceptance speech, Karunatilaka said he hopes people in Sri Lanka who read the novel will understand that, in his works, "corruption, race-baiting and cronyism have not worked and will never work."
11Karunatilaka told the prize committee that Sri Lanka's civil war in 1989 was the darkest year in his memory.
12There was "an ethnic war, a Marxist uprising, a foreign military presence and state counter-terror squads," he said.
13The writer said he borrowed teachings from Buddhism and other eastern religions about the afterlife to write the book.
14He said he "was seeing the afterlife as a visa office, as a government bureaucracy with spirits wandering around, not knowing where they are supposed to go."
15"We have this illusion that all our questions will be answered when we breathe our last; you close your eyes, open them and it suddenly all makes sense," Karunatilaka said.
16Neil MacGregor chairs the committee of 2022 Booker Prize judges.
17He said Karunatilaka's book is an afterlife novel about "life and death, body and spirit, east and west."
18He said it takes the reader to "the murderous horrors of civil war Sri Lanka. And once there, the reader also discovers the tenderness and beauty, the love and loyalty, and the pursuit of an ideal that justify every human life."
19Shehan Karunatilaka is one of Sri Lanka's leading writers.
20He became well known after winning several awards for his first novel, Chinaman.
21His work has been published in Rolling Stone, GQ and National Geographic magazines.
22And he has worked as an advertising writer and played guitar in a band called Independent Square.
23Past winners of the Booker Prize, which was first awarded in 1969, include Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Yann Martel.
24I'm Caty Weaver.
1Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka won the 2022 Booker Prize for his novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. The story is about a dead war photographer on a trip to the afterlife. 2The Booker Prize is awarded to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best work of fiction written in English and published in the United Kingdom and Ireland. 3Karunatilaka received the award in person from Queen Consort Camilla of Britain on Monday and a $56,000 prize. 4The story is set in Sri Lanka during the country's civil war in 1989. It follows a gay war photographer and gambler Maali Almeida, who wakes up dead. 5Even in the afterlife, time is running out for Almeida. He only has "seven moons" to find out who killed him and to contact his loved ones still living. He wants to guide them to hidden photos he has taken showing the cruelty of his country's conflict. 6In his acceptance speech, Karunatilaka said he hopes people in Sri Lanka who read the novel will understand that, in his works, "corruption, race-baiting and cronyism have not worked and will never work." 7Karunatilaka told the prize committee that Sri Lanka's civil war in 1989 was the darkest year in his memory. There was "an ethnic war, a Marxist uprising, a foreign military presence and state counter-terror squads," he said. 8The writer said he borrowed teachings from Buddhism and other eastern religions about the afterlife to write the book. He said he "was seeing the afterlife as a visa office, as a government bureaucracy with spirits wandering around, not knowing where they are supposed to go." 9"We have this illusion that all our questions will be answered when we breathe our last; you close your eyes, open them and it suddenly all makes sense," Karunatilaka said. 10Neil MacGregor chairs the committee of 2022 Booker Prize judges. He said Karunatilaka's book is an afterlife novel about "life and death, body and spirit, east and west." 11He said it takes the reader to "the murderous horrors of civil war Sri Lanka. And once there, the reader also discovers the tenderness and beauty, the love and loyalty, and the pursuit of an ideal that justify every human life." 12Shehan Karunatilaka is one of Sri Lanka's leading writers. He became well known after winning several awards for his first novel, Chinaman. His work has been published in Rolling Stone, GQ and National Geographic magazines. And he has worked as an advertising writer and played guitar in a band called Independent Square. 13Past winners of the Booker Prize, which was first awarded in 1969, include Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Yann Martel. 14I'm Caty Weaver. 15Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English with additional reporting from Reuters. 16__________________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18novel - n. a long story about imaginary people and events 19gay - adj. sexually and romantically attracted to a person of the same sex 20gambler - n. a person who bets money or other valuable things 21bait - v. try to make someone angry by criticism or insult 22cronyism - n. the unfair practice of giving jobs and favors to friends 23squad - n. group of people 24bureaucracy - n. system of government that has complex rules and ways of doing things 25wander - v. to move around without purpose or direction 26illusion - n. something that seems different from what it is 27tenderness - n. gentleness and kindness 28pursuit - n. the act of following something 29ideal - n. an idea or standard of perfection or excellence 30justify - v. to provide a reason for an action