Paper Plane

Galle Fort Awaits: A Paper Plane by the Sea

Where the Indian Ocean meets centuries of colonial history, Galle Fort becomes more than a UNESCO World Heritage Site — it transforms into a living story. Recently, the fort’s sun-drenched ramparts, narrow cobbled streets, and hidden courtyards hosted a unique celebration: the debut of Sri Lankan author Nifraz Rifaz’s Paper Plane.

Through Paper Plane, Nifraz Rifaz has returned to this city of beginnings to guide readers through an experiential journey, one that blends history, culture, and the intimate pulse of contemporary Sri Lanka. It was an invitation to wander, listen, and immerse oneself in a city whose stones echo with memory, identity, and the complex beauty of belonging.

The festival began at Art’o’San Gallery, where Professor Neluka Silva and artist Sandeepa Vithange explored literature’s role in preserving memory and guiding post-war healing. That evening, an intimate dinner at Fort Printers brought together storytellers, readers, and the 2025 Gratiaen Prize winner Savin Edirisinghe, sparking conversations on the art of preserving personal and collective histories.

Day two invited visitors to greet the sunrise along the fort’s ocean-facing ramparts. Guided by Vithange, attendees followed Nifraz through the sites that inspired his novel, listening as he read passages aloud, letting the wind and waves mingle with his words. Later, over shakshuka, French toast, and cardamom coffee at Coffee Brunch, readers shared poems and excerpts from Paper Plane’s fifty chapters, each inspired by songs from British Sri Lankan musician M.I.A. creating a communal dialogue between literature and place.

The experience concluded at ‘When in Galle with What We Never Sent – In Flight’, an open-mic performance by The Unscripted. Echoing the festival’s central theme, it celebrated stories left untold, voices waiting to be heard, and the intangible connections that tie us to home and heritage.

The British travel writer Juliet Coombe praised the novel as “a book everyone should read this year,” while Hong Kong based broadcaster and journalist Sadie Kaye, writing in The Hooghly Review, India called it “a gripping, turbulent flight into the psyche of Zed.”