The Most Famous
WRITERS from Sri Lanka
This page contains a list of the greatest Sri Lankan Writers. The pantheon dataset contains 7,302 Writers, 3 of which were born in Sri Lanka. This makes Sri Lanka the birth place of the 95th most number of Writers behind Réunion, and Turkmenistan.
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Sri Lankan Writers of all time. This list of famous Sri Lankan Writers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 - 1933)
With an HPI of 57.64, Anagarika Dharmapala is the most famous Sri Lankan Writer. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages on wikipedia.
Anagārika Dharmapāla (Pali: Anagārika, [ɐˈnɐɡaːɽɪkɐ]; Sinhala: Anagārika, lit., Sinhala: අනගාරික ධර්මපාල; 17 September 1864 – 29 April 1933) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist and a writer. Anagarika Dharmapāla is noted because he was: the first global Buddhist missionary one of the founding contributors of non-violent Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism a leading figure in the Sri Lankan independence movement against British rule a pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in India after it had been virtually extinct for several centuries the first Buddhist in modern times to preach the Dhamma in three continents: Asia, North America, and Europe. kept a close and cordial relationship with Ven. Kripasaran, a pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in Bengal and India Along with Henry Steel Olcott and Helena Blavatsky, the creators of the Theosophical Society, he was a major reformer and revivalist of Sinhala Buddhism and an important figure in its western transmission. He also inspired a mass movement of South Indian Dalits including Tamils to embrace Buddhism, half a century before B. R. Ambedkar. In his later life, he became a Buddhist monk with the name of Venerable Sri Devamitta Dharmapala.
2. Aryadeva (200 - 250)
With an HPI of 57.11, Aryadeva is the 2nd most famous Sri Lankan Writer. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.
Āryadeva (fl. 3rd century CE) (IAST: Āryadeva; Tibetan: འཕགས་པ་ལྷ་, Wylie: 'phags pa lha, Chinese: 提婆 菩薩 Tipo pusa meaning Deva Bodhisattva), was a Mahayana Buddhist monk, a disciple of Nagarjuna and a Madhyamaka philosopher. Most sources agree that he was from "Siṃhala", which some scholars identify with Sri Lanka. After Nagarjuna, he is considered to be the next most important figure of the Indian Madhyamaka school. Āryadeva's writings are important sources of Madhyamaka in East Asian Buddhism. His Catuḥśataka (Four Hundred Verses) was influential on Madhyamaka in India and China and his *Śataka (Bailun, 百論, T. 1569) and Dvādaśamukhaśāstra (both translated by Kumārajīva in the 4th century) were important sources for the East Asian Madhyamaka school. Āryadeva is also known as Kanadeva, recognized as the 15th patriarch in Chan Buddhism and some Sinhalese sources also mention an elder (thera) called Deva which may also be the same person. He is known for his association with the Nalanda monastery in modern-day Bihar, India.
3. Michael Ondaatje (b. 1943)
With an HPI of 53.13, Michael Ondaatje is the 3rd most famous Sri Lankan Writer. His biography has been translated into 41 different languages.
Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing The Dainty Monsters, and then in 1970 the critically acclaimed The Collected Works of Billy the Kid. His novel The English Patient (1992), adapted into a film in 1996 won the 2018 Golden Man Booker Prize. Ondaatje has been "fostering new Canadian writing" with two decades commitment to Coach House Press (ca. 1970–1990), and his editorial credits include the journal Brick, and the Long Poem Anthology (1979), among others.
4. Shehan Karunatilaka (b. 1975)
With an HPI of 31.40, Shehan Karunatilaka is the 4th most famous Sri Lankan Writer. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Shehan Karunatilaka (born 1975) is a Sri Lankan writer. He grew up in Colombo, studied in New Zealand and has lived and worked in London, Amsterdam and Singapore. His 2010 debut novel Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew won the Commonwealth Book Prize, the DSC Prize, the Gratiaen Prize and was adjudged the second greatest cricket book of all time by Wisden. His third novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (Sort of Books, 2022) was announced as the winner of the 2022 Booker Prize on 17 October 2022.
People
Pantheon has 4 people classified as Sri Lankan writers born between 200 and 1975. Of these 4, 2 (50.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Sri Lankan writers include Michael Ondaatje, and Shehan Karunatilaka. The most famous deceased Sri Lankan writers include Anagarika Dharmapala, and Aryadeva. As of April 2024, 1 new Sri Lankan writers have been added to Pantheon including Shehan Karunatilaka.
