Funny Boy

In this remarkable debut novel, a boy's bittersweet passage to maturity and sexual awakening is set against escalating political tensions in Sri Lanka, during the seven years leading up to the 1983 riots. Arjie Chelvaratnam is a Tamil boy growing up in an extended family in Colombo. It is through his eyes that the story unfolds and we meet a delightful, sometimes eccentric cast of characters. Arjie's journey from the luminous simplicity of childhood days into the more intricately shaded world of adults with its secrets, its injustices, and its capacity for violence is a memorable one, as time and time again the true longings of the human heart are held against the way things are. (From Emblem Editions)

• Shyam Selvadurai on childhood memory, Buddha and answering your own questions
• Shyam Selvadurai on writing diverse fiction that's true to life

Interviews

Why I Write: Shyam Selvadurai

6 years ago

Duration 2:33

In this CBC Books video series, author Shyam Selvadurai speaks about the need for authentic and diverse perspectives in Canadian literature.

Writers and Company52:31Love in the Afternoon panel (2001)

Eleanor speaks with six writers on stage at the International Literary Arts Festival in Victoria: Ian McEwan, A.L. Kennedy, Clare Boylan, Rosemary Sullivan, Shyam Selvadurai and Esta Spalding.