Keeping Time and other stories

This collection of short stories focuses on the lives of different Sri Lankans, depicting how they navigate their lives in a country that seems in many ways, constantly on the edge of crisis. A woman looking for an annexe to rent, comes into conflict with her brother and finds herself looking back on their childhood together. A man worried about a job interview is tormented by a loudspeaker going on all night. A woman goes to the tailor to get a dress sewn for her daughter, but there is much more at stake than just clothes. A man who makes a living mending watches, measures his life by routine but his life is thrown into confusion when events drag him into a conflict of which he wants no part. Some of the stories are funny, some are sad and all take the reader into the curious world that makes up living in Sri Lanka today.

Co winner Gratiaen Prize 2022