James Goonewardene

Who is James Goonewardene?

James Alexander Shedden-Goonewardene was a Sri Lankan writer. He was born in Pannala, Sri-Lanka, and was raised in Matara, Sri Lanka. He was the son of Mabel Alice Goonewardene and James Robert Shedden, a police inspector serving in the remote town of Pannala, Sri-Lanka. After his birth the family moved to Matara, Sri-Lanka, where they spent several years before moving to Harmer's Avenue in Wellawatte, Colombo. He studied at the University of London. During the 1950s, he began writing stories while working as a school teacher. In 1963, he became a broadcaster for Radio Ceylon while writing skits and dramas for the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.

James' first novel A Quiet Place was published in 1968, followed by Call of the Kirala in 1971. In 1978, he left broadcasting to devote himself full-time to writing. He published more English language novels than any other Sri-Lankan author. His work suffered some heavy criticism because English was becoming marginalized in the nationalistic passion in Sri-Lanka during the 1960s and the 1971 JVP Insurrection. He was the first Sri-Lankan author to have a novel published by Penguin India and has received retroactive acclaim.