Shehan Karunatilaka, a Sri Lank writer, was awarded the Booker Prize in 2022.

For winning the Booker Prize for Fiction in 2022 with "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida," Shehan Karunatilaka received a trophy from Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom on October 17, 2022, in London, Britain. "— Reuters.

LONDON: The second novel by Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka, "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida," won the Booker Prize on Monday. The narrative follows a deceased war photographer on a mission in the afterlife.

Karunatilaka was honoured during the first in-person presentation for the English language literary award since 2019. As a bonus, he will also receive a prize of 50,000 pounds ($56,810).

Karunatilaka's story follows Maali Almeida, a gay war photographer and gambler when he wakes up dead in 1990 Sri Lanka during the country's civil conflict.

Maali has "seven moons" to contact his family and friends and lead them to his concealed images documenting the cruelty of the battle in his nation.

In his award speech, Karunatilaka remarked, "My aim for 'Seven Moons' is that in the not too distant future... it is read in a Sri Lanka that has learned that these ideals of corruption, race-baiting, and cronyism have not worked and will never work."

"Seven Moons" will be found in the fantasy area of the bookstore, not the realist or political satire section, and "I hope it is read in a Sri Lanka that learns from its stories."

Among the works up for the Booker Prize, this year were "Treacle Walker" by British author Alan Garner, "Glory" by Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo, "Small Things Like These" by Irish writer Claire Keegan, "The Trees" by American author Percival Everett, and "Oh William!" by American author Elizabeth Strout.

According to Neil MacGregor, who presided over the judging process, "This is a metaphysical thriller, an afterlife noir that breaks the borders not only of different genres, but of life and death, body and spirit, east and west."

MacGregor further called it "an entirely serious intellectual adventure" that transported readers to "the world's dark heart," the terrible horrors of civil war in Sri Lanka. And once the reader arrives, they will find kindness and beauty, love and loyalty, and the pursuit of an ideal that justifies every human life.

Booker Prize winners from the past include such luminaries as Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, and Yann Martel.