Author Shehan Karunatilaka has slammed what he terms as “baseless and insulting” claims made by journalist Rajpal Abeynayake over his Booker Prize winning novel ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’.
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka, a supernatural satire set amid a murderous Sri Lankan civil war, won the Booker Prize last month.
The Sri Lankan writer’s novel is about a photographer who wakes up dead, with a week to ask his friends to find his photos and expose the brutality of war.
Abeynayake, a former Editor, had claimed that the novel ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ was stolen from a manuscript he had emailed Karunatilaka in 2011.
Abeynayake had claimed that the manuscript was emailed to Karunatilaka in 2011 seeking the author’s endorsement.
However, Karunatilaka said that the claims of plagiarism is entirely unfounded.
Karunatilaka said that he has shared the manuscript with his publishers who confirmed there is no comparison whatsoever with his book.
“There are no shared plots, characters nor text,” Karunatilaka said.
Karunatilaka said that he has also shared the information with the Booker Prize Foundation.
Courtesy: Colombo Gazette
