• Author Thushanthi Ponweera on telling stories about her country, culture, and history

Thushanthi Ponweera is a children’s author who is taking stories of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans to readers across the globe. Her debut verse novel ‘I Am Kavi’ centres on a young Sri Lankan girl caught between a poverty-stricken village and a fancy big-city school and her debut picture book ‘My Best Friend’s Bangles’ tells the story of two friends navigating jealousy and loneliness as one’s mother returns from working overseas and the other’s does not return.

In conversation with The Daily Morning, Ponweera spoke about the kind of stories she likes to tell, sharing that her identity as a Sri Lankan is what inspires her the most. With a lot to unpack about this identity, Ponweera said writing helps her explore and come to terms with the layers of her identity.

She also spoke about what draws her to storytelling, what goes into creating different characters, and the challenges authors face.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

What draws you the most to storytelling? Is it something you’ve been interested in since childhood?

As a child, I would listen with bated breath to my parents’ accounts about their childhood adventures. I also read obsessively and, having grown up in the 90s pre-internet era, I also spent a lot of time being bored and daydreaming. I suppose all this led to an active imagination which resulted in wanting to share my own stories as an adult, something I choose to do via writing.

What do you draw inspiration from? What kind of stories do you like to tell?

I love telling stories about my country, culture, and history. My identity as a Sri Lankan is what inspires me the most. There are lots of layers to unpack there! Writing helps me to explore and come to terms with all those layers.

Are there any authors, local or foreign, who have been especially inspiring?

Sri Lankan authors Amanda Jayatissa and Nizrana Farook were both sources of inspiration for being successful while writing contemporary Sri Lankan narratives for an international audience, and foreign authors Reem Faruqi and Padma Venkatraman for their compelling South Asian narratives for children. All these authors (and many more!) have also been generous with their advice and guidance when I was trying to get published, which is another reason I admire them.

How important is it for you to take stories about Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans to readers around the globe?

It’s important to me because of how underrepresented Sri Lanka is in international publishing, especially in children’s literature. It’s slowly changing and hopefully I can inspire more writers to know that these stories deserve to be told.

What goes into creating characters that come from different backgrounds or ethnicities? What kind of research goes into such characters?

I believe all characters are based on the writer’s life experiences, whether it be sci-fi, fantasy, or historical fiction. Characters are usually a mix of who we are and the people we have encountered. Of course, the usual research goes into fact-checking and making sure the story is as authentic to the identity of the characters as possible, which includes interviews and discussions and having it read by beta readers from similar backgrounds.

Tell us about ‘I am Kavi’. What went into writing it and how did the story unfold as a novel-in-verse?

‘I Am Kavi’ was partly based on my experience of growing up in the 90s. It’s about a 10-year-old girl from a village in Anuradhapura who wins a scholarship to a big school in Colombo. Her father, a former soldier, has recently passed away and her mother has remarried, which Kavi has a lot of conflicting emotions about.

She welcomes the chance to move away from home, even if it’s to live with her aunt, who is a maid at a wealthy house in Colombo. At her new school, she lies about who she is to fit in with the ‘cool’ kids and obviously it backfires. The story explores what it was like to grow up amidst a war, both affected and at the same time sheltered from it. It also explores race, class, wealth disparities, and what privilege looks like.

As for it being a novel-in-verse, I discovered that it is a sought-after format in children’s literature and since I always enjoyed writing free verse, I decided to try my hand at it. It seems I was pretty good at it, because the book sold at auction!

You recently released your debut picture book. What drew you to this type of storytelling?

This is the first type of book I wrote as I would read lots of picture books to my kids. During the pandemic, my father would tell my son stories over the phone about his childhood and I wanted to turn that into children’s stories. Picture book texts are usually less than 750 words so I thought it would be easy, but it’s actually very hard! To get an agent, I had to submit a portfolio of at least three picture book texts, so I worked on a few. ‘My Best Friend’s Bangles’ was one of them.

What is ‘My Best Friend’s Bangles’ about? What was it like working with illustrator Maithili Joshi on the book?

It’s about two girls, Selvi and Divya, who are best friends and whose mothers work overseas. It explores how their friendship is rocked by jealousy and insecurity when only one girl’s mom returns and how the friends work through these feelings. The illustrator, Maithili Joshi, who was selected by the publisher, did an amazing job bringing the story to life with her colourful and vibrant style.

What are some of the challenges you face as an author, especially in having your work published?

Selling manuscripts is always a challenge, as it is an extremely competitive market. I’m also writing stories about Sri Lankan children based in Sri Lanka, so whenever I get a rejection, I wonder if it’s because the writing is lacking or if the demand for these stories is limited; which is why I’m so happy to have sold three books already, and I’m determined to keep at it!

The other challenge is getting the books into the local market! The books were sold with world rights, so unless a publisher in Sri Lanka or the subcontinent buys the rights and prints it for the local market, the price point will be higher, which I guess is a barrier to entry. However, I hope local booksellers will do their best as I would love for kids in Sri Lanka to have access to my books.

Are you working on any projects at the moment?

I have a few ideas for my next verse novel; I just need to sit down and write it!