Gamini Akmeemana

Gamini Akmeemana is a Sri Lankan writer, journalist, photographer and editor. He won the Gratiaen Prize for his work The Mirage (1997).

Biography

Gamini grew up in the Southern Province. He attended Sri Sumangala College and he later switched to Ananda College.

Career

He pursued his career as a scribe in 1982, working for the Jordan Times. In 1996, he joined the Midweek Mirror, which was a weekly edition of the Daily Mirror. He later embarked on a career towards honing his skills in photography, and he also predominantly focused on the aspects of photojournalism. He then worked as a photojournalist at AFP News Agency for a brief stint. He also endured a brief stint at The Island newspaper as its feature writer.

His unpublished novel The Mirage, which was in its manuscript version, received praise and critical acclaim, for which the manuscript received the Gratiaen Prize in 1997. He wrote a manuscript titled The Mirage, based on the life trajectory of Rajani Thiranagama, whose life ended in a tragic and dramatic manner when she had been apparently shot dead by a gunman while cycling back from work. Rajani Thirangama, who was a writer by profession, endured the massacre while riding bicycle in Jaffna. He reportedly took around four months to complete the manuscript The Mirage in order to convert it into a typical novel.

He later rejoined as the editor at Daily Mirror and he served in the Daily Mirror's Associate Features column. In 2021, his short story The Lucky Charm was conferred with the first prize in the prose section at the 2021 Literary Competition which was organised and conducted by the English Writers Collective of Sri Lanka. He was also adjudged as the winner of Arts Council Award on few occasions.