Playwright Shakthi with Sri Lankan roots wins global Windham-Campbell honour

Sri Lankan-born Australian playwright S. Shakthidharan, popularly known as Shakthi, has been awarded the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize for drama, receiving a cash award of $US175,000.

The globally recognised prize honours writers across fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama for their overall body of work. Candidates are nominated confidentially and cannot submit applications themselves.

Shakthi earned the accolade for his powerful, multi-generational storytelling centred on the experiences of Sri Lankan Tamil migrants. Among his most celebrated works is Counting and Cracking, co-created with Belvoir artistic director Eamon Flack, which also secured the Victorian Prize for Literature in 2020.

Reacting to the recognition, Shakthi expressed pride in seeing these narratives gain international attention, noting that it highlights stories that are often underrepresented.

He revealed that he learned about the award through an email while in Sri Lanka filming his debut feature, The Laugh of Lakshmi. The film explores the emotional journey of a mother and son separated by the country’s civil conflict.

Shakthi emphasised that his work often challenges conventional narratives, offering perspectives that reflect diverse realities. He hopes the recognition will contribute to a more inclusive and progressive representation of Australian identity on the global stage.

The prize money, he added, will allow him to focus more fully on his creative pursuits, easing some of the challenges faced in sustaining a career in the arts.

In a message shared on social media, Shakthi said he was still processing the win, highlighting that the award is based solely on the merit of a writer’s work, judged by an international panel unfamiliar with him personally. He noted this as a testament to the universal power of storytelling to connect audiences with unfamiliar cultures and experiences.

Drawing heavily from his own family’s past, Counting and Cracking traces the journey of Sri Lankan Tamils, including the impact of the 1983 anti-Tamil violence that forced many, including his family, to flee the country. The production has since toured internationally, including performances in the UK and New York.

Shakthi has previously spoken about how creating the play helped him and his mother better understand their migrant identity, describing the process as a meaningful act of belonging.

He later collaborated again with Flack on The Jungle and the Sea, a work that delves into the lasting effects of Sri Lanka’s civil war. His more recent play, The Wrong Gods, which explores themes of development, tradition, and environmental consequences, premiered in Sydney in 2025.

In addition to his work in theatre, Shakthi released his first memoir, Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath, last year. He is also the co-founder and director of the Western Sydney-based theatre company Kurinji.

The Windham-Campbell Prize judges praised him as an exceptional storyteller whose work moves across time and place while remaining grounded in deep emotional authenticity.

This year’s list of winners also includes British author Gwendoline Riley and Belgian-American writer Lucy Sante. Previous Australian recipients of the award include Helen Garner, Patricia Cornelius, and Ali Cobby Eckermann.