Series 10 - Manuscripts and publications

Textual, graphic, publications, 2.34 m

Professor Sugunasiri was a prolific writer, both at the popular level and in educational and Buddhist circles. His output was prodigious, and the fact that many of his manuscripts did not get published did not deter him. This series begins with a number of files of notes, correspondence, and related material documenting the issues Professor Sugunasiri faced with getting his manuscripts published and his relationship with publishers and critics.

He has written, edited or translated over 15 books, written chapters in books, many articles in refereed journals and even more in non-refereed ones. The bulk of the series consists of drafts of articles, chapters, of books, books (including some proofs), with associated correspondence relating primarily to aspects of Buddhism and multiculturalism. Professor Sugunasiri published a number of his books though his press, Nalanda Publishing Canada. In some instances, only photocopies of articles are present.

Also documented is Professor Sugunasiri’s activities as a newspaper columnist and a frequent writer of letter-to-the editor. He began early, in Sri Lanka, as a columnist for Dawasa [‘Day’] from 1962 to 1964. In Canada, he wrote articles and pieces for the “Opinion” column in the Toronto Star and Saturday Magazine (1984 to 1998), for most of which there are drafts and often correspondence. These columns often elicited spirited and sometimes offensive (“You have a godamn [sic] nerve. Pontificating in the language of the English people – and you with a name like Suwanda Sugunasiri”, 1989-04-29) responses. Some of these pieces, such as “Who, then is a Canadian?” (1989-02-04) and “Let’s help Christians celebrate (1995-12-09) were published in whole or in part elsewhere. He penned a column from the Buddhist perspective in the “Religious” section of the Toronto Star from 1996 to 1998. At the same time, he contributed occasional articles to and wrote letters-to-the-editor to the Globe and Mail and other newspapers, including some in Sri Lanka.

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