Sri Lankan novelist Shehan Karunatilaka wins Booker Prize 2022 for 'The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida'

Shehan Karunatilaka has been chosen as the 2022 Booker Prize winner. The award was presented to the Sri Lankan novelist by Queen Consort Camilla at the Roundhouse in London on Monday night at the awards event for his work, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. The novel is based on the murder of a war photographer in Colombo in the 1990s and examines life after death in a civil war-torn Sri Lanka.

During his address, Karunatilaka stated that it was an "honour and privilege" to be included on the shortlist with the other winners. He also joked about receiving the £50,000 reward in cryptocurrencies.

The judges of the Booker Prize described the work as a whodunnit and a race against time, packed with ghosts, humor, and profound humanism. Neil MacGregor, the judging panel chairman, characterized "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida" as an afterlife noir that blurs the lines between life and death, body and spirit, east and west.




He claims that readers will discover sensitivity and beauty, love and loyalty, and the pursuit of an ideal that justifies every human existence in it.
In 1992, Michael Ondaatje won the award for "The English Patient". His second novel is "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida".

FAQ

How many natives from Sri Lanka have won this award before?
Karunatilaka becomes only the second Sri Lankan-born novelist to get the honor.

Where was Shehan Karunatilaka, born and brought up?
Karunatilaka who was born in Galle, but he spent his childhood in Colombo. He studied in New Zealand and worked in Amsterdam, London, and Singapore before relocating to Sri Lanka.