Author, journalist, thinker, and critic, Martin Wickramasinghe (1890 - 1976) was one of Sri Lanka’s most renowned writers and cultural and literary figures. His body of work includes 13 novels and numerous short stories, as well as essays on art, culture, history, literature, politics, and anthropology.

Deeply bilingual and bicultural, Wickramasinghe explored various facets of indigenous art, culture, and literature in his essays. These display a fervent interest in subjects like anthropology and comparative literature and religion. Eventually, they made him an important thinker in Sri Lanka and South Asia.

While he was contemporary of the leading modernist artistes and intellectuals in his country, Wickramasinghe differed from many of them in his background, his education, and his outlook. Despite lacking formal schooling, he became the preeminent public intellectual in Sri Lanka.

Delivered by Uditha Devapriya, the lecture focuses on Martin Wickramasinghe’s contributions as a novelist, critic, journalist, and public intellectual. Setting him against the backdrop of his time and place, it seeks to explore his life, work, and thought.

Date: 6 February 2026

Time: 05.00 pm

Venue: International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) Auditorium, Colombo