Who is Shehan Karunatilaka, the winner of Booker Prize 2022 for Fiction? Read on to know more

Shehan Karunatilaka, a writer from Sri Lanka, won the 2022 Booker Prize for Fiction for his metaphysical thriller "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida". The novel was praised for its scope and the humorous daring of its narrative tactics.

This is the story of a war photographer, who has "Seven Moons" to try and unravel the mystery surrounding his passing and aid in the disclosure of a collection of images that will shock war-torn Sri Lanka.




At the first in-person celebration for the prize since 2019, Karunatilaka, now the second Sri Lankan novelist to win the Booker Prize, was honoured by Queen Consort Camilla. The author stated that the aim of "Seven Moons" was to make Sri Lanka read and help them realise that these concepts of corruption, race-baiting and cronyism have never worked and will never work.



Shehan Karunatilaka was born in 1975 in Sri Lanka and has published three picture books and two novels. His 2010 debut book, "Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew", which won the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize, launched the author onto the international literary scene. The DSL and Gratiaen Prize were won later, and Wisden ranked it as the second-best cricket book of all time. The first work of the author was shortlisted for the Gratiaen Prize in 2000 before his first book was published.

A few weeks before the Booker awards presentation, Karunatilaka named his top five books: Lincoln in the Bardo, Cloud Atlas, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Girl and Woman in an interview.

FAQs:

1. When was "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida" first published?
   "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida" was first published in January 2022.
2. What was the first work of Shehan Karunatilaka?
   Shehan Karunatilaka’s first work was "The Painter."