Tags
An anthology of Sri Lankan poetry in English, Arjuna Parakrama, Bridging Connections, Poetry, Rajan Hoole, Rajani Thiranagama, Richard de Zoysa, Richard de Zoysa: his life, some work ….. and a death, University Teachers for Human Rights of Jaffna University
Richard de Zoysa was killed 21 years ago, on the night of February 19th 1990. Several poems were written in his memory in the months that followed, and I have collected many of these in ‘An anthology of Sri Lankan poetry in English’ as well as in ‘Richard de Zoysa: his life, some work ….. and a death’.
Appalling as his death was, it was not an isolated incident, in the culture of violence this country had developed in the decade before his death. This got worse in the two decades that followed. More recently however things have improved, though there will be need of constant vigilance to ensure that violence is not renewed.