We live in a world which is changing very fast. What seems contemporary now will be historical in two years. Romesh Gunesekera changecontemporaryfast Change image and share on social
I've met writers who wanted to be writers from the age of six, but I certainly had no feelings like that. It was only in the Philippines when I was about 15 that I started reading books by very contemporary writers of the Beatnik generation. Romesh Gunesekera agebeatnikbook share on social
My first inkling of what the Commonwealth might really mean came only when I escaped the oddly British-tinged Asia I had known and went to live in the Philippines. Romesh Gunesekera asiabritishcommonwealth Change image and share on social
Sri Lanka is a part of my background: it's not where I live, but it's what I want to explore. And I find it works very well to explore through fiction. Romesh Gunesekera backgroundexplorefiction Change image and share on social
The nationalist movement supported Sinhala by suppressing Tamil; there were competing nationalisms. It was a fundamental mistake to make parallel streams in education - or a calculated political gamble. Politicians were playing with it. Romesh Gunesekera calculatecompeteeducation share on social
I want to keep an inner life alive and, with luck, somebody else's, too. Romesh Gunesekera alivelifeluck Change image and share on social
Novels are the means by which we can escape the moment we are imprisoned in, but at the same time, the roots of a novel are in the world in which it is written. We write, and we read, to understand the world we live in. Romesh Gunesekera escapeimprisonlive share on social
Imaginative writing, to me, is a way of discovering who we are and what we have to contend with; discovering what is out there and also what is not there. It enables me to think and explore and make something new with language while trying to make sense of our lives. Romesh Gunesekera contenddiscoverenable share on social
Writing is incredibly important to me as a way of handling the world, understanding how it works. Romesh Gunesekera handleimportantincredibly Change image and share on social
Who controls the present controls the past. There's a power structure, if you like, between the present and the past and the future, and that's what I'm interested in. Romesh Gunesekera controlfutureinterest Change image and share on social