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Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka won the Booker Prize on Monday for her second novel, “The Seven Moons of Mali Almeida,” about a dead war photographer who Stories of missions in the afterlife.
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Karunatilaka received the trophy from Queen Camilla at the English Literature Awards’ first live ceremony since 2019. He also took home £50,000 ($56,810).
Set during the Sri Lankan civil war in 1990, Karunatilaka tells the story of gay war photographer and gambler Maali Almeida who wakes up and dies.
Time is of the essence for Marley, who has “seven moons” to contact loved ones and guide them to the hidden photos he took that depict the brutality of his country’s conflict.
“My hope for ‘Seven Moons’ is that in the near future … reading it in Sri Lanka has made it clear that these ideas of corruption, racial baiting and cronyism have not worked and will never work,” Karunati said. Lakka said in his acceptance speech.
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“I hope it’s read in a Sri Lankan that learns from the story, and that ‘Seven Moons’ will be in the fantasy section of the bookstore and won’t… be mistaken for realism or political satire.”
This year’s shortlist for the Man Booker Prize includes British author Alan Garner’s “Treacle Walker”; Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo’s “Glory”; Irish author Claire Keegan’s “Small Things Like These”; Fritt’s The Trees and Oh William! “American writer Elizabeth Strout.
“It’s a metaphysical thriller, an afterlife film noir that erases not only the boundaries between genres, but also between life and death, body and spirit, East and West,” said jury chair Neil J. McGregor said of Karuna Tilaka’s book.
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“It’s a utterly serious philosophical romp that takes readers to ‘the dark heart of the world’ – the murderous horrors of Sri Lanka’s civil war,” McGregor added. “Once there, readers will also find tenderness and beauty, love and loyalty, and a quest for an ideal that justifies everyone’s life.”
The Booker Prize was first awarded in 1969, and past recipients include Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Yann Martel.
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