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Book Reading by Janaka Malwatta – By Gothami Meepe Source : Qld Sri Lankan Newsletter – Dæhæna – December 2022 A book reading of Janaka Malwatta’s award winning poetry book “Blackbirds don’t mate with Starlings”, was held at the Avid Reader Bookshop on the 4th of November. The catalyst for this book, which won the Thomas Shapcott Prize this year, had been the distressing murder of George Floyd. His poetry brought into focus why so many of our youth felt compelled to join the Black Lives Matter movement. The first poem he read, ‘Swastika’, set the tone. How this sacred symbol of the East is now demonised and used to show hate is shown up brilliantly in this poem. It deeply resonated with me, and the direct style used to confront the issue was truly refreshing. The real-life circumstances that led him to understand racism and the effects of colonialism, were ...