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Going Home

The idea of home can suggest a potent combination of memories and emotions. This month's New Writing focus explores the complex feelings that surface when a journey home is undertaken after a new life has been made in a very different place. Through the short stories of Romesh Gunesekera 'Independence' and Anuradha Vijayakrishnan 'Narayani's Journey' we probe powerful emotions around change, identity, family and friendships.

 

'Although I don't live in Sri Lanka, it is part of the world I inhabit', Romesh Gunesekera writing about his feelings for the country in which he was born. In his tense short story, 'Independence', Gunesekera draws upon the turbulent history of Sri Lanka to create an unsettling account of a couple who return to their homeland and discover dramatic changes in both themselves and their country.

 

Anuradha Vijayakrishnan's gentle short story, 'Narayani's Journey', also explores a visit home, through the eyes of a woman who leaves her family behind to revisit her birthplace. The humid, earthy atmosphere of her experiences are perfectly captured in Vijayakrishnan's lyrical and tender prose.

 

Romesh Gunesekera

Romesh Gunesekera was born in Sri Lanka. His new novel, The Match, was published by Bloomsbury (March 2006). His first novel, Reef, was published by Granta and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was also awarded a Premio Mondello in Italy. His other books are Heaven's Edge (New York Times Notable Books 2003), The Sandglass (BBC Asia Award) and a collection of stories, Monkfish Moon. He lives in London.

 

www.romeshgunesekera.com

Photograph: Romesh Gunesekera

 

Anuradha Vijayakrishnan

Anuradha Vijayakrishnan was born in Cochin, India in 1974 and has a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur, India. She now lives in Chennai and works with Citibank. She has had poetry and fiction published in magazines and anthologies. She has received training in Carnatic music, the classical music of South India. Writing is a passion she pursues after midnight mostly and sometimes by daylight if the urge is unstoppable.

Photograph: Anuradha Vijayakrishnan

 

Illustration © Maurizio Marmorato
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Link to writing

Independence * Independence

Narayani's Journey * Narayani's Journey


Glossary for 'Narayani's Journey' * Glossary for 'Narayani's Journey'

Link to teachers notes

Teachers' pages for Going Home * Teachers' pages for Going Home

Link to readers notes

Readers' notes for Going Home * Readers' notes for Going Home

Link to author interviews

Interview with Aunradha Vijayakrishnan * Interview with Aunradha Vijayakrishnan

Interview with Romesh Gunesekera * Interview with Romesh Gunesekera

 

* Other themes in this issue * *
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* * Other themes in this issue *
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