Gaya Nagahawatta’s translation titled ‘The Scintillating Darkness Sighted by the Aged Blacksmith’ of the award-winning Sinhala short story by Piyal Kariyawasam was selected as a winner at the Himal Fiction Fest 2026. This is the title story of Kariyawasam’s multiple award-winning third short story collection, Aachariseeya dutu didulana andakaraya published by Godage Publishers in 2008.
Gaya Nagahawatta’s translation of the Sinhala short story was among six winners that shared the award. The other winning translations (in alphabetical order) were from Balochi, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Tamil, and Telugu. All the winning stories are accessible to the reader on the Himal website (himalmag.com/tag/himal-fiction-fest-2026/).
Aachariseeya dutu didulana andakaraya won all three major national-level Sri Lankan awards for Sinhala short story collections that year—the State Award for Best Short Story Collection, the Vidyodhaya Literary Festival Award, and the Godage Publisher’s Award, establishing Kariyawasam as a significant writer among his contemporaries.
This translation of the title story from Aachariseeya dutu didulana andakaraya marks the first time a story from this collection has been translated and published. ‘The Scintillating Darkness…’ opens with the disturbing sighting of a damaged dead body of a young rebel, mourned silently by villagers in the face of oppressive state forces, and brings to light the resilience of youth and the unity among villagers across generations.