Wedding Gifts & Other Presents

BAFTA award-winning film maker Asitha Ameresekere brings his extraordinary talents to the page with his startling, thought provoking and tender offering of stories.

Shakespeare has a writing block and Medusa just doesn't like her hairstyle – of course! BAFTA award-winning film maker Asitha Ameresekere brings his extraordinary talents to the page with his startling, thought provoking and tender offering of stories. Incredibly charming and beautifully written with a balance of pathos and humour, Ameresekere shows us that a chance encounter, a hidden revelation, or even an angel could reconfigure the world. Ameresekere reveals the idisocyincrasies and odd logic that rule our lives, making this stunning debut the work of a writer with a spectacularly original and compelling voice.

'Ameresekere's consummate awareness of what makes a good story, his quirky sense of humour, and his ability to supply many points of view in the telling-including that of a dog-disclose a complex literary sensibility that belies his neophyte status as a writer' – Professor S W Perera

'Ameresekere is incomparable to any other Sri Lankan author to be published in recent years. His stories are bound to appeal to local as well as international readers not only because they are set in a wide array of places, but because Ameresekere chooses his narrative style to harmonize with the place and culture he is representing, a trait seldom seen in other contemporary writers. For Sri Lankan fiction fans and short story lovers alike, Wedding Gifts and Other Presents will not fail to entertain, amuse and surprise with its unique entourage of characters humorous twists of fate' – Chalani Ranwala

Asitha Ameresekere was brainwashed by Greek myth from an early age and has studied Classics ever since. At various points in his life, he has been a teacher, librarian and chef, but has always made films in his spare time. He is the recipient of a BAFTA award for his film Do not Erase. He currently lives in London.