A festschrift volume dedicated to Prof. Ashley Halpe titled "Arbiters of a National Imaginary: Essays on Sri Lanka – Festschrift for Professor Ashley Halpe", edited by Chelva Kanaganayagam will be launched at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations Auditorium on Tuesday, December 9th at 5:30 p.m. The essays that make up this volume were written as a tribute to the scholarship, career, creative talent, and profound humanity of Professor Ashley Halpe.  One of the striking aspects of Halpe’s contribution is his commitment to inter-disciplinarity, and to comparative studies.  Although many of his research articles deal with literature in English, his translations, his paintings, and his own poetry suggest a much larger vision that perceived connections across fields,  languages, religions, and ethnic groups. 

Contributors to this volume are Tissa Jayatilaka, Thiru Kandiah, Ranjini Obeyesekere, Robert Crusz, Carl Muller, Ashley Halpe, Jayantha Dhanapala, Qadri Ismail, Rienzi Crusz, R. Cheran, Michael Ondaatje, Ernest Macintyre, Chandani Lokuge, Tissa Abeysekara, M.A. Nuhman, Jill Macdonald, Sivamohan Sumathy, Harish Trivedi, Aparna Halpe  and Chelva Kanaganayagam.

Speakers  at this launching ceremony of this volume will be Tissa Abeysekara, Siromi Fernando, Wilfred Jayasuriya, Nihal Rodrigo, Maithree Wickramasinghe.  Prof. W.D. Lakshman will preside.