Editorial

It gives me immense pleasure to write this editorial for Iris Volume II. In one year we have grown visibly. The contribution, the students have made towards this volume is ample proof of the successfulness of the journal. The poetry has gained in both breadth and depth. More poets have been created. Prose has gained in diversity. All this in spite of the overarching shadow of the Covid 19. It has however restricted our reach. We have managed to get poems from an internationally reputed poet from Nepal. Dr. Keshab Sigdel has been generous to share his poems with us. I have great pleasure in including three of his poems in this volume.

The editorial board headed by Ruvini Wickramaratne has to be commended once again with her special talent to sustain the enthusiasm of her colleagues and students, she has inspired her students to produce work of quality. Iris, the all-seeing orb has opened the doors for observing, dissecting and analyzing human experiences. Let us keep going with what has been achieved and strive to be better in the future.

Kamala Wijeratne

Author/ Poet

Sahityaratna (2019)

Chief Project Officer- National Institute of Education

Visiting Lecturer- University of Colombo (2000-2019)

Visiting Lecture- University of Sri Jayawardhanapura (2000-2008)

Rector’s Message

I congratulate the staff of the department of English & Modern Languages of SIBA Campus on the issue of IRIS volume II. IRIS is the SIBA forum for creative writers. It offers a top-notch platform for creative writers to display their writing skills and hone their creative competencies. The department of English & Modern Languages of SIBA does not promote conventional language teaching. Our mission is to promote English language learning for communicative purposes. As we know, today, Commercial, industrial and service sectors are in the dire need of creative people and good communicators. As such, IRIS is yet another step towards producing graduates with creative thoughts and excellent communication skills. Though SIBA is relatively a small university college, we have a clear vision of rendering quality education for the 21st century.

I am happy to see that IRIS has produced a bunch of enthusiastic writers who show high potentials of becoming full-fledged poets, short story writers and essayists in the future. I take this opportunity to thank the editor-in-chief, the award winning, veteran writer Ms. Kamala Wijerathne for her efforts to fine tune the creative capacities of our writers by conducting creative writing workshops. I also thank the members of the academic staff of the department of English & Modern Languages headed by Ms. Buddhi Ariyratne for bringing forth the second volume of IRIS Volume 2, despite the hindrances caused by the epidemic situation in the country. All the writers who contributed to the second volume of IRIS deserve acknowledgement, too. The encouraging hand given by many others who supported in many ways to make IRIS volume 2 a reality is much appreciated.