Return of the Galle Literary Festival

The Galle Literary Festival (GLF) came back to the country this January 2024. It has been typical of Sri Lanka and matters Sri Lankan with a chequered career, the annual sequence interrupted twice; the name changed and most significantly to me, declined in organization, arrangement and literary luminaries sharing their talents. Again typical of the character of the country, numbers attending have not decreased – maybe increased – of both local and foreign, but them not praising fulsomely as before. Even the Sunday print media carried adverse comments, complaints really. The invited speakers were fulsome in their praise as reported in the press but I was privy to negative comments made by attendees who had been at previous GLFs. I make bold to write this article as I was present throughout at all previous festivals but could not make it this year. Consequently I kept close interested tabs on it.

Lineage

Anglo-Australian hotelier Geoffrey Dobbs who settled in Galle bravely founded the event in 2005. I attended and found events and organization moved smoothly with Dobbs all over the place all day. Annually the festival was smooth sailing till 2011 when certain prestigious writers such as Booker Prize winners, Kiran Desai and Orhan Pamuk declined attending as a protest against the government’s coming down hard on journalists and curtailing media freedom. Fortunately we had heard Kiran the precious year.

In 2013 political disaster struck the GLF over trivia. Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was held in Sri Lanka with Mahinda Rajapaksa as President. Dobbs saw the British flag flying upside down in Galle. He informed the govt VIP in Galle – Provincial Governor or whoever. That lady did not order the flag be hoisted correctly. So Dobbs hoisted a Lion Flag with the animal standing on its head.

Umbrage was taken and Dobbs declared persona non grata. He left for Australia and was denied entry to SL until 2016 when sponsorship of the GLF was taken over by Fairway Holdings with the extremely generous investment of Rs 30 m in the operational costs of the festival. That was not only fantastic but gave Geoffrey Dobbs the fillip to restart the annual literary festival now famous throughout the world and even dubbed the best.

One instance of extra generosity was the inauguration of the Fairway Literary Prizes for the best local novel of the year in English and most promising writer. Fantastic prizes of Rs 500,000/- for winners and Rs 100,000/- for each of the four short listed novelists was offered. Fairway Holdings Chairman, Hemaka de Alwis, was present all through that festival with the name changed to Fairway Galle Literary Festival – FGLF, and subsequent festivals up until 2019. Then Covid took the world by its throat as it were, and stifled it.

I have stayed in Galle all through the festivals, enjoying the serene antiquity of the Fort, spruced up, and the lively ambience of the festival grounds; the very happy and informal mixing with peoples, local and foreign, of all ages, races and even temperaments. I was completely satisfied with the running of the festival which was truly excellent, particularly in the two years that Shyam Selvadorai curated and was chief organizer – 2017 and 2018, I believe. Bits of chaos were evident in 2019. The long awaited festival was revived this January after a hiatus of four years, as the previous GLF.

The Festival improved each year until 2018 in every way. Halle de Galle was the main venue and large audiences were accommodated opposite it in a temporary building where the Fairway Literary Awards were presented, almost always with Ranil Wickremasinghe as Chief Guest and his wife seen at most events. Really famous writers, actors, culinary experts are far too many to list.

I make mention of only a few who made indelible impressions on me: Picor Iyer, Vikram Seth, Kiran Desai, Sashi Tharoor, Sebastian Faulks, Tom Stoppard, Dame Maggie Smith, Germaine Greer, Gore Vidal, Katherine Frank (biographer) and Nayantara Segal (cousin of Indira Gandhi). Events too were varied, ranging from dance and drumming items to theatre. The Chamber Music Society of Sri Lanka played at the ancient Dutch Reformed Church in the Fort, and later the choir of the Cathedral of Christ the Living Savoir performed in the Anglican Church.

Side sessions catered to those seeking exposure to Tamil and Sinhala literature. Architecture and cultural excursions, cookery demonstrations and having meals with the famous were additional events. Prices were considered rather high but a festival pass started around 7000/-, then climbed to 10, 12 and in 2019 it was 15.000/-. Day passes and tickets for single events were available and media persons were free.

This year’s GLF

Held from 25 through 28 January, participation was massive. Hotel bookings were from August 2023. A season ticket cost Rs 45,000/- ; a day pass Rs 12,000/-; and attending a lecture/event was priced at Rs 3000/- . The programme did not list many outstanding foreign writers. I did not find out who the main organizer and curator was/were. Presumption is that Geoffrey Dobbs did not lend his name nor expertise to the event. (I am open to correction).

The negatives listed by three experienced GLF attendees were thus: Some venues selected were totally inadequate in space and amenities. For example in the Chambers Restaurant there were around 30 chairs but more than double that number had bought tickets. Result: very many were left standing within the room and outside. The speaker’s seat was flush with the audience so he/she had to stand throughout the presentation.

The room in No 30, Leyn Baan Street was large and sufficient seats were provided but the roof being metal, it was hot and stuffy with only four coolers on the side. Additionally, the sound system was totally inadequate or faulty, so much so that what was said emerged garbled. My friends left the venue after a couple of minutes.

The Amangalle Hotel provided venues for events. Surprisingly I heard that two presentations in this hotel had inadequate seating and the speaker was sans a microphone. A hotel of such prestige having its basic structure built in 1784 and named New Oriental Hotel (NOH) and its new management and name in 2004, should and could have remedied the remiss of the GLF supervisors/organisers. Fort Bazaar Court had lounge chairs for the panel of speakers and on level with audience seating. Many a listener could not see the speakers even with strained necks.

The Halle de Galle was excellent, my friends said. I remember air conditioning was installed a couple of years into the Festival but even earlier it was comfortable with adequate fans. The only blemish was the lack of toilets – only three attached to the hall and two squatting. Toilets could not be built by the GLF, the hall belonging to the Divisional Secretariat or whatever. Remedied the following year by discreet installation of portable toilets.

Another complaint of a few I spoke with was that changes of venues etc were announced via email. “All did not have access, nor accessed email. So confusion and annoyance resulted.” This friend and another were early at each event and thus got seating up front. At one event after the room was almost full, a young volunteer helper approached three women seated in front of my friends and asked them to shift as the seats they occupied were reserved for the sponsors of the event. I echo my reporting friend by asking wasn’t it possible to place an even scribbled ‘reserved’ board and not inconvenience guests who had paid much.

These major and minor shortcomings could be attributed to carelessness and remises in organization. They were remedial. Tickets sold indicate audience to be expected so how come adequate seating was not provided. I was also told that many of the setbacks were corrected.

From early on I used to write about that year’s GLF to the Sunday Island. I once wrote “Always a lively, interactive and engaging five days of listening, discussion and debate, as some of the world’s most articulate and thought-provoking writers stimulate us to look anew upon the world around. We could also just relax and savour a festival of the arts set in a stunning setting.”

I quote American author Ursula le Guin who wrote some years ago: “There have been societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories. The GLF occupies such an integral and compelling space in Sri Lanka’s cultural calendar and in our collective imagination. This opportunity to share the narrative instinct so distinctive to humanity has become an eagerly anticipated and much discussed event played out annually in the historically charged and delightfully evocative maritime city of Galle.”

The GLF has a fine reputation to maintain. Hence this article, not of blame and complaint but feedback to eliminate the ‘coffee stains’ and bring it to back to excellence.