Shehan Karunatilaka, author of “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida,” is winner of the 2022 Booker Prize. Karunatilaka talked with The World’s host Marco Werman about the ways in which Sri Lanka’s grim history of civil war — along with a bit of “gallows humor” — shaped the ideas in his award-winning novel.
Sri Lanka, which imports its fuel, currently lacks enough dollars to buy adequate supplies of gasoline, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene. That’s impacting the country’s fishing industry, with people running out of fuel for their boats.
Traffic has begun trickling back into the streets of Colombo, Sri Lanka. But the economic crisis and fuel shortages have many people still waiting in long queues to refuel their vehicles. Some people have even been stuck in line for days.
Australia and Sri Lanka are usually bitter rivals on the pitch during cricket matches. But Sri Lankans are welcoming the Australian team and its fans as a much-needed distraction from their country’s recent political and economic turmoil.