Galle Literary Festival
| Galle Literary Festival | |
|---|---|
| Begins | January 18, 2012 |
| Ends | January 22, 2012 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location(s) | Galle |
| Years active | 14 |
The Galle Literary Festival is an international literary festival held annually in Galle, Sri Lanka. In recent years the profile of the festival has increased substantially, with attendances by many internationally acclaimed and well-known writers. In 2012 the title sponsor of the festival has been HSBC.
The festival was founded in 2005 by Anglo-Australian hotelier Geoffrey Dobbs, and some of the writers who have attended the festival include D.J. Taylor and Roshi Fernando.,[1] Sashi Tharoor, Shyam Selvadurai etc.
However, in 2011 the festival hit a set back when a number respected writers including Kiran Dessai and Novel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk boycotted the event to protest against the Sri Lankan Government's alleged involvement in attacks on journalists and writers.,[2]
A list of well-known writers and musicians at the festival held in 2012 included Tom Stoppard, Richard Dawkins, Simon Sebag Montefiore, David Thompson, and Jason Kouchak
The festival was not held in 2013 because of the ill-health of Geoffrey Dobbs
As at January 2014 the future of the festival is in doubt, following the deportation of Geoffrey Dobbs from Sri Lanka.