Sri Lankan Women Writers Finding Space Within Political Turmoil. Punyakante Wijenaike, Kumari Jayawardena, Nira Wickramsinghe, Rosemary Rogers and Thisuri Wanniarchchi

Academic Paper from the year 2020 in the subject Literature - Basics, grade: NA, , course: Doctoral, language: English, abstract: Sri Lanka is a country which has witnessed tremendous political upheavals since ages. Although now, peace has been restored to the lands still there are many issues which have to be sorted out. Though an under develop country, but Sri Lanka was the first country to have given the world first woman Prime Minister, Srinivaso Bhandarnaike. Women writing in Sri Lanka began in 1928 when Rosalind Mendis published her first novel, The Mystery of a Tragedy published by Arthur Stockwell of London. The novel was not so successful and it did not pave the way to inspire other women to take up writing as a career. Women writing did not flourish in Sri Lanka due to many reasons but over the last three decades, it has witnessed a new wave of women writers trying to carve their niche in the world of English writing as there has been tremendous flow of women writers. Vijeta Fernando writes, 'a half a century long drought followed before creative writing, especially by women, could take root and flourish in the island country.' So the writing culture including both men and women developed in Sri Lanka in the postcolonial period.

Dr. Shamenaz Bano is Author & Editor of 19 international books which includes, 'Exile and Resistance in Palestinian Literature', 'An Anthology of Poems on Partition Literature ', 'The Silences and Survival of Indian Women in Shashi Deshpande's Novels', 'A Visit to the Ruins of Vijayanagar Empire at Hampi', 'Shades of Life', 'Gender Studies: Fragmentation and Formation', 'Trends, Issues and Implications in Asian Women Writing' and 'Women Poets: Within and Beyond Shore Volume I, II & III. She is Co-author of 'The Celebration of Our Voices' with Deborah Brooks Langford of USA and has co-edited Feeling for You with Armeli Quezon of USA. She has been teaching English literature, language and Communication Skills at Rajarshi Tandon Mahila Mahavidyalaya, S. S. Khanna Girls' Degree College, Ewing Christian College, Allahabad University at Allahabad Institute of Engineering & Technology for ten years. She has contributed poems to many international poetry Magazines & Anthologies like Women of Substance, Raven Cage Magazine, Poetry Archive, Women of Reflection, Women of Passion, Poetic Souls, Feeling International, Hope Reborn, Delhi by Verse and Glomag. She is a member of the Editorial Board of journals including; Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (Azerbaijan), Angloamericanie Journal (Macedonia), Anglisticum, (Macedonia), International Journal of Research and Humanitarian Studies (Jordan), Cyber Literature: An Online Journal, The Context, English Literator Society, Literary Miscellany, Research Access & Expressions, Levure Litteraire (France-Germany-USA).