TOWARDS THE TRUTH
Shehan Karunatilaka
Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka discusses his life and literary adventures since winning the 2022 Booker Prize for his astonishing novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Chaired by Ahmed Osman.
Set in the ‘In Between’, this supernatural murder mystery recounts photographer Maali Almeida’s attempts to navigate a bureaucratic, crowded afterlife to uncover the truth of his murder. While the story is a satire that examines power and bureaucracy in the past, it is also an invitation to explore personal and political questions equally relevant today.
As master of Maali Almeida’s universe, Karunatilaka rarely divides people into a simple binary of heroes and villains. His characters are often flawed, selfish, frightened, or complicit in wrongdoing. Even sympathetic characters make questionable choices.
Maali is witty and charismatic, but he is also manipulative and ethically compromised. This is a rare opportunity to hear from an international Booker Prize winning writer about his creative process and how the written word can shine the light on the complexities of this world.
Shehan Karunatilaka
As well as winning the 2022 Booker Prize for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Shehan is also the author of Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, which won the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize, as well as a short story collection, and five children’s books. His work has been translated into 36 languages. Alongside Becky Manawatu, Shehan is currently one of two Ursula Bethell Writers in Residence at the University of Canterbury.
Ahmed Osman
Ahmed Osman is a Somali-New Zealand director and producer based in Whakatū Nelson, although work often takes him to both Auckland and Wellington. He is the co-founder of Homegrown Pictures and is best known for directing the award-winning docu-series Third Culture Minds and producing the SKY Originals NZ series Miles From Nowhere.
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