The Department of Cultural Affairs was constituted by the then Government in the year 1956. The first ever Literary Festival was held under the patronage of the Department, as its key function, on 07th September 1957 at Sri Parakumba Pirivena, Sri Jayawardenepura, Kotte. Few literary awards were presented on that day.
The event was organized by the Advisory Board of Literature. The Advisory Board consisted of Venerable Polwatte, Budhdhadatta Thero, Velivitiye Soratha Thero, Venerable Kodagoda Gnanaloka Thero, Venerable Kahandamodara Piyarathana Thero, Kotahene Pannakiththi Thero, Bambarande Sirisivali Thero, and the scholars such as E.A. Abeysekera, Martin Wickramasingha, W.A. Silva, Amaradasa Weerasingha, T.B. Peramune thilaka.
At present the literary awards are presented to literary works written in three languages, Sinhala, English and Tamil by the literati who nurture the nation through their great works.
Functions
- Conduct State Literary Awards Presentation Ceremony.
- Presenting “Sahithyarathna” Award.
- All the affairs relevant to presentation of Literary Awards including the appointment of Panel of Judges for selection of literary works.
- Conduct State Literary Lectures.
- Printing of “Sahithya”, the magazine of scholarly articles.
- Planning of important national policies on literature.
- Conduct advisory on literature.
Literary works are evaluated under following subject areas and considered for the presentation of awards within those areas.
- Original novels
- Original Short Stories
- Original Poetry Collections
- Original Youth Literature
- Original Lyrics Collections
- Original Drama
- Original Science Fictions
- Children’s Literature i
- Children’s Literature ii
- Academic and Research Texts
- Cinema and television
- Translated Novels
- Translated Short Stories
- Translated Poetry Collections
- Translated Drama
- Translated Academic and Research Texts
- Books on varied subjects – Sociology
- Books on varied subjects – Humanities
- Books on varied subjects- Translations
