Shirani Rajapakse

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About Shirani Rajapakse

Shirani Rajapakse is an internationally published, award winning poet and author. She won the Cha 'Betrayal' Poetry Contest 2013 and was a finalist in the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Poetry Awards 2013.

She is the author of two collections of short stories, "Breaking News" (2011, 2018) -shortlisted for the 2010 Gratiaen Award and "I Exist. Therefore I Am" (2018) - winner of the 2019 State Literary Award and shortlisted for the 2019 Rubery Book Awards. Her poetry collection "Chant of a Million Women" (2017) won the 2018 Kindle Book Awards, was chosen as an 'Official Selection' in the 2018 New Apple Summer eBook Awards for Excellence in Independent Publishing and received an Honorable Mention in the 2018 Readers' Favorite Awards.

Rajapakse's work appears in many international publications including, Flash:The International Short-Short Story Magazine, Litro, Silver Birch, International Times, City Journal, Writers for Calais Refugees, The Write-In, Asian Signature, Moving Worlds, Citiesplus, Deep Water Literary Journal, Mascara Literary Review, Kitaab, Lakeview Journal, Cyclamens & Swords, New Ceylon Writing, Channels, Linnet's Wings, Spark, Berfrois, Counterpunch, Earthen Lamp Journal, Asian Cha, Dove Tales, Buddhist Poetry Review, About Place Journal, Skylight 47, The Smoking Poet, New Verse News, The Occupy Poetry Project and in anthologies, Poets to Come: A Poetry Anthology (Local Gems Press, 2019) The Dreamers Anthology: Writing Inspired by the lives of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Frank (2019), Sugar Flavored Rock Candy (2019), Fireflies & Fairy Dust: A Fantasy Anthology (Eu-2 2018), Flash Fiction International (Norton 2015), Ballads (Dagda 2014), Short & Sweet (Perera Hussein 2014), Poems for Freedom (River Books 2013), Voices Israel Poetry Anthology 2012, Song of Sahel (Plum Tree 2012), Occupy Wall Street Poetry Anthology, World Healing World Peace (Inner City Press 2012 & 2014) and Every Child Is Entitled to Innocence (Plum Tree 2012). Her work has also been translated into Farsi.

She has a BA in English Literature (University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka) and a MA in International Relations (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India).

She has interviewed, promoted and reviewed books by indie authors on The Writer's Space at shiranirajapakse.wordpress.com

Connect with her at shiranirajapakse.wordpress.com or follow her at, facebook.com/shiranirajapakseauthor/
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$9.99

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$2.99

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$6.99

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$8.99

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$7.99

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$24.95

Paperback
$13.35

Paperback

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Books By Shirani Rajapakse

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Flash Fiction International: Very Short Stories from Around the World Apr 13, 2015

by James Thomas , Robert Shapard , Christopher Merrill

( 60 )

$9.99

A dazzling new anthology of the very best very short fiction from around the world.

What is a flash fiction called in other countries? In Latin America it is a micro, in Denmark kortprosa, in Bulgaria mikro razkaz. These short shorts, usually no more than 750 words, range from linear narratives to the more unusual: stories based on mathematical forms, a paragraph-length novel, a scientific report on volcanic fireflies that proliferate in nightclubs. Flash has always—and everywhere—been a form of experiment, of possibility. A new entry in the lauded Flash and Sudden Fiction anthologies, this collection includes 86 of the most beautiful, provocative, and moving narratives by authors from six continents, including best-selling writer Etgar Keret, Zimbabwean writer Petina Gappah, Korean screenwriter Kim Young-ha, Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw Milosz, and Argentinian “Queen of the Microstory” Ana María Shua, among many others. These brilliantly chosen stories challenge readers to widen their vision and celebrate both the local and the universal.

Other Formats: Paperback

Fireflies & Fairy Dust: A Fantasy Anthology Mar 1, 2018

by Joe Euclide , Jamie McLachlan , Alicia Gaile , Marya Layth , Candice Conner , Bianca M. Schwarz , Mandy Eve-Barnett , Amanda Linsmeier , Kim Plasket , Shirani Rajapakse

( 3 )

$2.99

Eu-2 Publishing is proud to present Fireflies & Fairy Dust: A Fantasy Anthology, with content from over twenty fiction authors, poets, and artists, both established and emerging. This collection features twists on classic nursery rhymes, retellings of familiar fairytales, and also brand-new work that is sure to become favorites. From uplifting to stark, poetic to funny, sweet to sorrowful, we’ve got you covered with this magical collection.

Includes work by: Kennedy Vega, Autumn Lindsey, Jewel Eliese, Aisha Mohamed, Robert Rogler, Marya Layth, Haley Pritzl, A.N. Moore, Amanda Linsmeier, Joe Euclide, Jamie McLachlan, Norma Bishop, Bianca M. Schwarz, Cara Masset, Alicia Gaile, Candice Conner, Shirani Rajapakse, Kerry E.B. Black, Mandy Eve-Barnett, Kim Plasket, Artyv K, and Leslie Wibberley.

Other Formats: Paperback

The Dreamers Anthology: Writing Inspired by the lives of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Frank Mar 29, 2019

by Janette Schafer , Cedric Rudolph , Matthew Ussia

( 1 )

$4.99

Celebrating the 90th anniversaries of the lives of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Frank, this international collection of poems explores the hopes and fears of individuals in the face of intolerance. The legacies of MLK and Anne Frank are the genesis for imagining the world we wish to live in and understanding the difference between the world we want and the world we have.

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Breaking News Apr 5, 2019

by Shirani Rajapakse

( 1 )

$6.99

A 2010 Gratiaen Awards Shortlist

A young girl searches for a loved one. A mother grieves for her sons. A soldier wakes up with a missing limb. A woman reveals her true nature when she blows herself up. A young boy is traumatized by the loss of his baby sister. These nine stories take you through glimpses of two civil wars and what it’s like to live under the threat of terrorism. Yet all is not dreary; there are glimpses of humor and satire as life goes on amidst pain and suffering.

Other Formats: Paperback

I Exist. Therefore I Am Apr 5, 2019

by Shirani Rajapakse

( 4 )

$8.99

Winner - 2019 State Literary Award
Shortlisted - 2019 Rubery Book Awards

A newly married woman burns to death. A mother is forced to kill her infant daughter. A young woman with a promising future becomes a slave to a holy man. A recently widowed woman is left on the bank of a river to die. I Exist. Therefore I Am takes you on a journey into the world of women and the trauma they face for simply being.Moving yet also disturbing, these nine stories set in India are about internal struggles, desperation, vulnerability as well as yearning for something better. It is about secrets, words that cannot be spoken, social restrictions and smiles that don't quite reach the eyes.In story after story, Rajapakse portrays the terrible treatment towards women as a result of religious, cultural and tribal taboos placed on them, and the suffering at the hands not just of society but of their own kind.This is fiction that is created for readers that aren't afraid to question society and its beliefs and tear open the wounds to heal the soul.They describe what it means to be women, the helplessness they are confronted with and the unending hope they have for a better future. Will these women's sacrifices make a difference or will they have been in vain?

Other Formats: Paperback

Chant of a Million Women Aug 21, 2017

by Shirani Rajapakse

( 6 )

$7.99

Rajapakse explores identity, values and women’s role in society through the poems in Chant of a Million Women. She also looks at the concepts of beauty and the standards imposed on women to conform. Some of the poems are hard hitting and take on subjects that are uncomfortable to talk about like rape, female gender mutilation, abuse and male dominance. She talks about power and the quiet force that keeps half the world moving even when there is no hope.

The language is simple yet the thoughts and ideas are not. They rise from the depth of our very being to swirl through the pages compelling the reader to step into worlds created within the covers. There is magnificence and strength juxtaposed with violence and weakness as are other opposites such as the divine and human frailty. These poems are like a breath of fresh air, provoking, mesmerizing and entertaining.

At our core is a chant,

soft,

like the susurrus of leaves only breezes

understand.

Sometimes it opens lips

to sing like gurgling waters meandering

from here to there, to wherever it flows,

or the soft tread of footfalls

on the path outside.

But sometimes,

it’s a roar so loud

thunder stops in its tracks

in awe.

Other Formats: Paperback

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