The history of English literary magazines in Sri Lanka dates back to the 1940s, a period in which the English graduates were highly encouraged by the English departments of the local universities to showcase their critical thinking skills and creativity. Harvest (1945-46), Symposium (1948-50), Points of view (1952) and Community (1954-58/ 1962-63) were founded by the graduates in English who were eager to contribute to the field of English language and literature. However, the socio-political context of the country after eight years of gaining independence (1956s) saw certain upheavals in the paradigm of English education in Sri Lanka, both in the school and university levels. Professor D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke writes to the Encyclopaedia of Postcolonial Literatures in English (2005) that “English was displaced from its pre-eminent position as the official language and as the medium of instruction in schools and universities”. Therefore, the literary journals which gained public attention and popularity amongst Sri Lankan undergraduates passed a period of silence and decline until the late 1970s.
Blink? What is it?
Blink was published as an undergraduates’ literary magazine in the aftermath of such a context in 1982. It is considered one of the longest running literary journals in Sri Lanka, published annually by the Department of English, University of Kelaniya. Blink was undoubtedly an inspiration to all the English undergraduates in Sri Lanka to enhance their creativity and critical thinking skills as its founder and the first editor Sharmini Jayawardena proclaims. She has expressed her thoughts in the launch of the first edition of Blink, declaring that Blink has a long way to go, broadening its scope and encouraging more and more creative writers to publish their work in the next issues of the magazine. Turning her expectations to a reality, Blink is still continuing its mission even after four decades, providing the undergraduates with a spectrum of opportunities to make their voices heard, their writing acknowledged.
What did we gain?
All the former and current lecturers of the Department of English of the University of Kelaniya are the backbones of all department-related initiatives. The department’s mission of creating a new generation of English degree holders who do more than just studying for a degree has been put into practice through initiatives like the Blink magazine. The department follows and practices the pedagogical theories it promotes. Late professor Manique Gunesekera writes in the preface of Blink 2010, “at one time Blink was all in verse, at another time it was strongly bilingual, in another it was one with night, death, darkness, war, suicide, pain, totally noir. Today it has morphed into a state-of-the-art magazine by students who are comfortable with themselves… It is a proud moment to acknowledge that our students are no longer passive watchers.” The department, therefore ensures that the undergraduates do not remain passive observers but active participants in the classroom context as well as outside the classroom. What more could we expect from education other than its ability to open the eyes and minds of the students to the realities they have not perceived before?
A review on The Island on April 23, 1982 titles the magazine as “Blink: Proof of Promise”. Blink, indeed has paved the path towards a promising future and continues to do so since it is not just a collection of good poetry and prose, but an encouragement for a new generation of Sri Lankan English writers to emerge. Sharmini Jayawardena, the founder and first editor of the magazine who presented a collection of poetry to the journal of the Women and Media Collective, Dharini Abeysekera whose poetry got published in Option’s volumes 27 and 28, Arjuna Parakrama who has published his own collection of poetry are only a few of the writers who were encouraged by Blink to present their brilliant works of art to the world.
Blink 2017 published under the theme “(E)merging memories” marked a milestone in the history of Blink magazine since it was the first issue to be published as an E-magazine. It was dedicated to the loving memory of late professor Manique Gunesekera and KELF 2017 included poetry readings from the magazine along with a panel discussion with well known Sri Lankan writers; Ashok Ferry and Sunila Galappatti. KELF 2020 which was streamed virtually via Zoom included poetry readings by the undergraduates of the Department of English in all three languages; English, Sinhala and Tamil.
Therefore, as Professor D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke rightly mentions, “these literary magazines have established a critical tradition without which Sri Lankan literature in English could not have blossomed. Increasingly, they have published creative works and thereby encouraged it”.
~Parami Ranasinghe
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