Nayomi Munaweera, who is Sinhalese, left with her family in the 1970s and went to Nigeria. They arrived in the United States in 1984. Her novel, Island of a Thousand Mirrors, tells the story of the conflict from the perspective of two girls who witness the horror - one Tamil, one Sinhalese.
Nayomi Munaweera recommends
The Atlas of Reds and Blues (2019)
Devi S Laskar
"Devi S. Laskar has written a beautiful, harrowing fever dream of a novel. This is a book that insists in no uncertain terms and despite horrific institutional and everyday racism that South Asian Americans are indeed American. This is a book I have been waiting a very long time for. A monumental achievement."
Marriage of a Thousand Lies (2017)
SJ Sindu
"SJ Sindu has written an important novel about Sri Lankan immigrant culture. Here, the intersections of migration, sexuality and culture are explored in loving and heartbreaking detail. A book that reveals the secrets of a community caught between East and West."