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Book Review: Safe Haven by Shankari Chandran – By Varan Karunakaran Source : Qld Sri Lankan Newsletter – Dæhæna – August 2024 Serafina (Fina), a Tamil nun who was seeking asylum, arrived in Australia together with other Tamil people on the boat who survived a near death experience and rescued by a Norwegian ship. Arriving in Australia seeking asylum, equally, Fina dedicated herself to aiding the refugees who were held in Port Camden (fictional), a remote island outpost. The tale swings between outlooks of Fina and Lakshmi (Lucky), a special investigator and an Australian-Tamil origin, posted to the detention centre. The accounts reflect a story of grief, trauma and the interconnectedness of fates. This included a sharp shock of pain, an immediate emotional response with the goal of further provoking actions. Lucky’s probes and the revelation of Fina’s own secret past, the novel reads more like a crime procedural – no ...

Aug 3, 2024 Posted by In Articles Tagged ,
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Shankari Chandran Wins 2023 Miles Franklin Award for “Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens” Source :  Qld Sri Lankan Newsletter – Dæhæna – August 2023 Shankari Chandran’s Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, an intergenerational epic confronting Australia’s uneasy relationship with multiculturalism and postcolonial trauma, has won the 2023 Miles Franklin literary award. Chandran, a Sydney-based lawyer of Tamil heritage, collected the prestigious $60,000 award in Sydney on Tuesday night. The judges praised Chandran’s third novel, set in an aged care facility in contemporary western Sydney and Sri Lanka’s brutal civil war, as an accomplished work of character, dialogue and action. “It treads carefully on contested historical claims, reminding us that horrors forgotten are horrors bound to be repeated, and that the reclamation and retelling of history cannot be undertaken without listening to the story-tellers amongst us,” the judges’ said in a joint statement. But Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens very nearly ...

Jul 31, 2023 Posted by In Articles Tagged , ,
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‘Trojan horse’ novel tackling colonisation and war wins Miles Franklin-by Jason Steger Source:Smh Shankari Chandran has pulled a fast one. Her novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens has the sort of title and cover that suggest readers are in for a gentle read about the funny old residents of an aged-care home. But readers are in for a surprise. Chandran’s third novel, which has won this year’s $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia’s most significant prize for fiction, addresses racism, the consequences of colonisation, the distortion of history and the traumas of the Sri Lankan civil war head on – all with the help of those funny old residents. Miles Franklin-winning author Shankari Chandran says the problem or beauty of writing is that it’s addictive.CREDIT: “My publisher, Robert Watkins, says it’s a Trojan Horse, because you think you’re picking up a quirky, cute novel about eccentric characters in a nursing home,” Chandran ...

Jul 26, 2023 Posted by In Articles Tagged ,
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Bridgerton star Charithra Chandran cast as lead for ‘Song of the Sun God’ adaptation   Source : tamilguardian British Tamil actress Charithra Chandran, star of Netflix’s show Bridgerton and Amazon Prime’s show Alex Rider, has been announced as being cast in the lead role of a six-part adaptation of Australian Tamil author Shankari Chandran’s novel ‘Song of the Sun God.’  Shankari Chandran’s novel follows the lives of three generations of a Tamil family, set in the UK, Australia and Sri Lanka. The miniseries will be a co-venture between the UK’s Synchronicity Films and Australian production company Photoplay Films. The author has also been signed on as creative consultant for the project.  Charithra Chandran has been cast in the lead role of Leela, a young Australian Tamil woman living in London, who finds herself on a global journey to uncover buried familial truths. Chandran has previously mentioned in Teen Vogue that her ...

Oct 1, 2022 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , , ,
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