Shehan Karunatilaka

Shehan Karunatilaka is a popular writer famous for his novels, toddler books, and short stories. He is also a creative director. He was born in 1975 in Galle, southern Sri Lanka. Karunatilaka did his schooling at S. Thomas Preparatory School, Kollupitiya. Then Whanganui Collegiate School of New Zealand. He completed his higher studies at Massey University, and he graduated with subjects like English literature, against the will of his family, as they wanted him to study Business administration. His debut novel was published in 2010. Karunatilaka got published in many media newspapers like The Economics Times, The Guardian and in some magazines like Newsweek and Rolling Stone even before his debut novel.

His debut novel was about Sri Lankan history, using cricket as a medium, whose title is Chinaman:- The Legend of Pradeep Mathew. The book won the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize. His second novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, was a hit and won Booker Prize in 2022. Its genre was a metaphysical thriller. This book was first published, in January 2022. He had published three picture books and two novels. He is the second Sri Lankan author who received The Booker Prize. He also wrote a book dedicating children and toddlers, Please Don’t put that in your mouth.

This title is inspired by his real-life experience when toddlers have this habit of Licking everything in their mouth and swallowing it. In his interview, he gave an example of how his daughter once started licking a wet paintbrush as if it was ice cream. In the same way, his son munches dead insects sometimes. He wanted to write a tale, keeping this in the background. Most probably to the research, he will be with his third book Khans by mid-2023. He had good experience working for ad agencies, tech firms, media houses, start-ups, etc. His other well-liked book by the public are Chats with the Dead, The Birth Lottery, and Other Surprise.