The 16th of September was certainly an evening to remember. The O2 Café, situated in the WSO2 building on Bauddhaloka Mawatha in Colombo 4, hosted a memorable evening featuring four brilliant local authors who spoke about the story behind their stories, what inspires them to write and create, and what the future holds for them.

Starting off the evening was Zaithoon Bin Ahamed, better known as Zai, who is the author of ‘Love and Miracles’, a collection of poems and short stories. As the Head of Corporate Communications at WSO2, she leads an incredibly busy lifestyle and so one of the obvious questions asked of her was, “How do you find the time to write with a demanding and full-time job”. 

Zaithoon spoke about sacrifice to achieve your dreams. Cutting down on time spent in front of the TV or scrolling aimlessly through social media lends more time to, not just place pen to paper, but to also follow her other passions, like yoga and meditation, traveling and experiencing new cultures, and singing.

Devika Brendon, teacher, editor, reviewer, and writer of English Literature, read from her soon-to-be-published novel, “Aversion” which is due to be out before the end of this year. Reading from her work, the audience quickly picked up on how she was able to craft her words around seemingly ordinary things and situations, making them extraordinary by peeking below the surface… beyond what is immediately obvious, if you will.

Devika Brendon’s poetry, short stories, and reviews have been widely published in anthologies and journals in Australia and India, and her academic articles in Europe and the U.S.A. Her journalistic work has appeared in The Sunday Times, The Sunday Island, Roar, Groundviews, and LMD. She is a columnist at Ceylon Today, and a contributor to The Daily Mirror and The Morning. 

Also on the panel for the evening was the prolific fantasy fiction writer, Dilshani Yasodhya, author of the popular novels “The Demon Within” and its sequel “Tainted Blood”, followed by the first of a new trilogy based on Sri Lankan mythical and supernatural creatures, “Freak Therapy”. 

Dilshani shared from her novel “Freak Therapy”, bringing to life such beings from Sri Lankan folklore such as Kalu Kumara, Bahirawa, Huniyam Dewa, Maha Sona, Riri Yaka, and the like.

The protagonist of the story, a suicide survivor, is brought back from the brink of death with a unique power – one that allows her to see through the veil, and identify the supernatural beings disguised as humans that walk among us. 

The State Literary Award-winning author, Najaha Nauf was also featured on the panel. Najaha is an author, teacher, and poet, she is renowned for her inspirational poetry recitals at venues such as the MMCA (Museum of Modern Contemporary Art, Colombo) and the American Center at the American Embassy of Sri Lanka. She treated the audience to readings from her book as well as a riveting and engaging performance, reading a selected poem from her new book, “October Defined” which has just been released. 

The panel was moderated by Jeremy Muller, author, and editor-in-chief at The Jam Fruit Tree, a publishing house that predominantly showcases English writing by Sri Lankan authors. 

Held at the O2 Café, what better location that provides the ambience perfect for such an evening. The feedback from the audience was that “Between the Lines event was genuinely so inspiring.”

Showing their unstinted support has been The Sunday Observer, the official press media sponsor for the event, and ChoKoLAATe Magazine, the official magazine media sponsor.

“Between the Lines” will be back with many more scheduled events, organized and hosted by O2 Café, in collaboration with The Jam Fruit Tree, as well as many other events planned, including recitals, workshops, and other literary events.