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Punyakante Wijenaike (born Colombo, 1933- 8 March 2023) was a Sri Lankan writer.[1] She has been described as "one of the most underestimated fiction writers currently at work in the English language."[2][3]
Wijenaike wrote primarily in English, including fiction, short stories and anthologies. Her first collection of short stories, The Third Woman, was published in 1963. Since then she has published four collections of short stories and six novels, with more than 100 stories published in newspapers, journals and anthologies in Sri Lanka and abroad, and has had her works broadcast in Sri Lanka and on the BBC.
Although she has spent most of her life in Colombo, she initially used rural villages as her theme, only later turning to urban themes. Her writings highlight "the tyranny of community or a group towards its weaker members." Her 1998 novel, An Enemy within, uncovers "the mask that tend to hide the reality of present times."[4]
Her novel Giraya was adapted into a teledrama by Independent Television Network of Sri Lanka.
Ten of her works are held by the U.S. Library of Congress.
She is the daughter of Justin Kotelawala, a businessman and senator of Colombo and his wife Millicent da Silva. Her brother is Deshamanya Lalith Kotelawala. She spent most of her life in Colombo, where she published all her works.[6]
