In Conversation with Daya Dissanayake

Abstract

Daya Dissanayake (born 8 March 1947) is an award-winning bilingual Sri Lankan novelist, poet and feature writer. His work spans nine novels in English, six novels in Sinhala, a collection of poems, and numerous articles in newspapers, journals and magazines. He is the author of the first e-novel in Asia, The Saadhu Testament (1998), and the first e-novel in Sinhala, Vessan Novu Wedun (2003). He is the only Sri Lankan writer to receive the Sri Lankan State Literary Award for the best English novel thrice and was awarded the SAARC Literary Award in 2013. Being the first Sri Lankan to release his work online and for free access, he is often seen as one of Sri Lanka's earliest and most vocal advocates for the e-book format, copy left and Creative Commons.This interview was conducted at Yercaud, a hill station in Salem District, in Tamil Nadu, India. Some answers were formed during the e mail exchanges.