Sri Lankan Stories Take the Stage at World Travel Market: The Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival’s London Debut
The Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival’s London Edition at WTM. Photograph: Hiru News.
Draft for review, not for publication or scheduling.
Sri Lankan stories took the stage in London on 4 November, as the Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival (CLAF) presented its inaugural London Edition at World Travel Market (WTM) London. The festival brought writers and cultural conversations to one of the world’s leading travel-trade events, introducing an international audience to Sri Lanka through literature and ideas as well as its familiar travel attractions.
Presented by Sri Lanka Tourism, the programme also looked ahead to CLAF’s fourth Colombo edition, scheduled for 22–24 January 2027. For Sri Lankan readers in the UK, the London appearance marked a welcome moment: a festival built around voices from home making its first London visit.
A festival built around four creative pillars
CLAF brings together literature, art, music and film. Its wider aims include strengthening Sri Lanka’s soft power, the influence a country builds through culture and ideas, and creating meaningful opportunities for young people in the creative industries.
The London Edition gave those ambitions an international setting. WTM connects the travel industry with destinations and tourism organisations from around the world. By presenting the festival there, CLAF and Sri Lanka Tourism invited travel professionals and other international audiences to encounter Sri Lanka through its writers and cultural life.
That approach adds another dimension to how a destination is introduced. Landscapes and travel experiences remain important, while books, art and conversation can also help visitors understand a country’s stories and perspectives.
Five speakers, with Sri Lankan voices at the centre
The programme brought together five speakers whose work spans fiction, history, humour and economics:
- Shrabani Basu, author of Victoria & Abdul, which was adapted into a film starring Judi Dench.
- Romesh Gunasekera, a British-Sri Lankan novelist whose work has received international recognition, including a Booker Prize shortlist place.
- Louise Doughty, a novelist whose fiction has been adapted for BBC One and ITV.
- Ashok Ferrey, a Sri Lankan comic novelist.
- Razeen Sally, an economist and author of Return to Sri Lanka.
Gunasekera, Ferrey and Sally brought Sri Lankan perspectives to the London conversations. Their participation connected the festival’s home-grown cultural platform with readers and industry representatives gathered in the UK.
The mix of speakers also gave the programme room to explore Sri Lanka from different angles: through fiction and humour, through personal and historical narratives, and through the questions that shape how countries are understood.
Three conversations at WTM
Following a welcome address by founder Ajai Vir Singh, the afternoon featured three sessions:
- “Sri Lanka through the Eyes of Others” brought together Romesh Gunasekera and Razeen Sally, with Ashok Ferrey as moderator.
- “One Tear of Love” featured Louise Doughty and Ashok Ferrey.
- “Tales from the Empire” saw Shrabani Basu in conversation with Ashok Ferrey.
Together, the sessions placed Sri Lanka’s stories in conversation with wider international perspectives. They also showed how a literary festival can create a space for discussion across genres and backgrounds, rather than limiting its programme to one kind of writing or audience.
Illustration: A conference-hall scene representing the international travel-trade setting; it does not depict the specific WTM event.
Taking Sri Lankan voices to a wider audience
CLAF founder Ajai Vir Singh described the London Edition as a step in the festival’s international development and in introducing Sri Lanka through arts and culture.
> “The London Edition is an important step as we expand our platform’s footprint beyond Sri Lanka, and it also strengthens Sri Lanka’s soft power. Bringing the festival to London alongside Sri Lanka Tourism is a key strategic goal in attracting the right travellers to the country. Arts and culture are an important medium for engaging a wider international audience.”
Co-founder Fazeena Rajabdeen highlighted the importance of taking the festival’s Sri Lankan voices beyond the island:
> “Culture is one of the most powerful ways a country can introduce itself. After four years of building a festival with Sri Lankan voices at its heart, we wanted to take those voices to the world, starting with London.”
The quotes reflect the festival’s dual purpose: building an international platform for Sri Lankan creative work and helping audiences see culture as part of a destination’s identity.
Colombo edition set for January 2027
The London programme also introduced CLAF’s fourth Colombo edition, which is scheduled for 22–24 January 2027. The festival will bring together writers, artists, musicians and filmmakers across its four pillars, with young and emerging Sri Lankan creatives at its heart.
At the time of the London announcement, organisers said the full line-up, venues and ticketing details would be shared in the coming weeks. Travel professionals were encouraged to consider literature and the arts among the reasons to visit Sri Lanka.
For UK-based Sri Lankans and other readers with an interest in the island, the January dates offer a practical opportunity to combine a visit to Colombo with a festival programme celebrating local and international creative work. Those planning a trip can check the Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival website for updates as programme and visitor information becomes available.
A cultural connection between London and Colombo
The London debut placed Sri Lankan writing in front of an international travel audience and gave the festival a new platform beyond the island. It also offered a reminder that cultural exchange can connect people across countries, whether through a conversation on stage, a book read in the UK or a visit to Colombo.
For the Sri Lankan community in Britain, the festival’s first London appearance is a positive milestone for Sri Lankan voices and creative work. Readers can follow eLanka’s coverage of Sri Lankan cultural performers featured in a British Airways story for another example of culture and travel connecting audiences.
Sources
- Daily FT: Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival hosts inaugural London Edition
- Hiru News: Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival takes Sri Lankan stories to London
- Colombo Gazette: Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival hosts its inaugural London Edition
- Ceylon Literary and Arts Festival