Piyasena Kahandagamage


Piyasena Kahandagamage is a Sinhala novelist and poet. Born in Baddegama, Galle, Sri Lanka he was a teacher by profession and a union leader. After the UNP government came to power in 1977 he was transferred to rural Bintanne in Ampara district, where he based most of his novels.
Kahandagamage lost his job after the 1980 general strike. He started writing several serialized novels and articles for the Divaina newspaper. Most of his stories are based around Dambana area where he lived and worked. He wrote several non-fiction books on Veddha culture, language and Sri Lankan farming methods.
His unique experience living among veddhas and his writings put him among the handful of writers who wrote about the rural Sinhalese and veddhas, including Leonard Wolfe and Maya Ranjan. His book Vanagatha Charika was translated to English as Jungle juants by Tilak Balasuriya.

Works