Vajra Chandrasekera

2 months ago | tricycle.org | Vajra Chandrasekera |James Shaheen

Sri Lankan novelist Vajra Chandrasekera grew up reading the stories of Western literature as if they were science fiction. Now, as a writer, Chandrasekera views speculative fiction as an opportunity to depict different types of worlds than we typically inhabit—as well as different kinds of personhood.

Jan 16, 2025 | bookriot.com | Vajra Chandrasekera |Lavanya Lakshminarayan |Lyndsie Manusos

I’ve written about genre-blending science fiction in the past: lists of books and stories where genre is blended, re-molded, and made something new. Genre-blending, in any and all genres, is something very near and dear to me, as both a reader and writer. It’s the excitement and temptation to tell stories that contain multitudes, for we, as artists and as people, contain multitudes. Now, let’s talk about genre-defying books. And there is a difference, dear reader, between the two.

Nov 21, 2024 | fivebooks.com | Vajra Chandrasekera |Martha Wells |Emma Törzs |Tananarive Due

Let’s start with a book that scooped two awards this year, winning both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Ignyte Award for Outstanding Novel: The Saint of Bright Doors, by Vajra Chandrasekera. Yes! And it was also nominated for the Nebula. I think it’s a fantastic debut; I can’t wait to see more from Chandrasekera. We follow Fetter, the child of a god with an unwanted destiny.

Nov 18, 2024 | tricycle.org | Vajra Chandrasekera

In 2019, I began writing this essay in reaction to a Sri Lanka politician, Mangala Samaraweera, saying that he was not a Buddhist but “a person who follows the Buddhist philosophy,” which has long been Sri Lankan middlebrow commonplace for people who want to distance themselves from the tacky or ugly parts of Buddhism.

Oct 26, 2024 | tricycle.org | Vajra Chandrasekera |James Shaheen

Sri Lankan novelist Vajra Chandrasekera grew up reading the stories of Western literature as if they were science fiction. “I had to figure out the rules, the terrain, and how things work,” he told Tricycle.