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By Munyal Markus Manunyi
Gayan, please give a brief background of yourself.
Well I’m Gayan Chinthaka Hettiarachchi, from Sri Lanka, and I’m a teacher by profession and a writer. I’m mostly self taught. I’m the founder and director of Oxygen Pen, an international creative writing organization, which by now has about 7,600 members from around the world.
The art of being self taught isn’t an easy experience at all. What were your challenges during that time?
You are right, it was not easy. I went through enormous hardship and periods of frustration, being from an humble family which used to be trampled by lingering poverty. It was after turning 20 I could really begin my journey which has got me where I’m today.
But despite all odds you still managed to be versatile in knowledge, did you at some point in life get the chance to undergo a conventional method of learning?
Of course, I had to go to school upto age 16.
My school life was never beautiful, and imprisoned in the traditional box of learning, I had no idea as to what I was good at or skilled in, I couldn’t have dreams of that kind given that the biggest problem I had to deal with was how to see my family in a better situation. So school life was sort of a traumatic experience in that I couldn’t relate to the picture the teachers expected me to, because of only having burning problems, not soothing answers.
What informed your decision about founding this international writing forum called oxygen pen? Does it have anything to do with your academic experience pertaining to methods of learning?
A good question. Actually the idea of founding Oxygen Pen occurred to me from my observations in a couple of literary groups on Facebook where I was a member. All of them, Indian, were about preparing students for various literary examinations and questions would be posted and then answered by other members. I would also post questions, and sometimes answer questions. In these activities I observed that there is a need for a place for creative writing where those who have a flair for writing can exhibit their writings to the whole world. Thus, I founded it as ‘English Creative Writing Association’ which was changed to Oxygen Pen in 2020.
In my opinion the English Creative Writing Association seems to sit well with me. The name oxygen pen is somewhat confusing, what do you have to say about that?
Wow, ”Oxygen Pen’ means writing is a sort of oxygen for repressed feelings and thoughts, to the mind in general. Writing also resurrects dying hopes of others. So by ‘Oxygen Pen’ I mean, the pen of a writer is not a mere pen, but one with oxygen inside.
How do you intend to affect the lives of writers and readers through this forum you established?
Well we have a number of programmes in Oxygen Pen through which we enrich writers and readers. Writers can post their works and have an international readership. We have different ways of recognizing and motivating writers in which we give awards and certificates.We hold competitions and for it we have a full fledged board of judges that comprises university professors and lecturers. So getting marks from such experts in literature is a tremendous support for a writer. Then we have a team programme in which we give leadership training, encourage teamwork, provide thinking and writing training, and spark brotherhood among nations. We have a branch network in which we have an Oxygen Pen sub group in each country.We have already covered Asia, Africa and Europe. In these sub groups one can write in their mother tongue. Also, by this segmentation we intend to ensure that no one would go unnoticed, submerged by the congestion of posts in the main group. We have an ambassador for each country who is also ex officio Chief Administrator of their branch. Also we have an interview programme called “Op Talk on Lit’ in which we interview writers on facebook messenger. So Oxygen Pen is an organization with a wide range of life transforming mechanisms.
Having said that, what makes Oxygen Pen different from other international writers’ forums?
Our multifaceted organizational system.
It is not only about writing, but about winning life as well.
Can you elaborate more about this please?
Well most writers’ forums as you put it only focus on giving a place for one’s works.They don’t have any other programmes to enrich lives by sparking new hopes and confidence. But as I said above, we have programmes for enriching every aspect of writers in order to make them all rounded figures in the arena of writing. Our specializations of writing into which the judges’ board has been segmented, namely:
Romantic Writing
Sociological writing
Philosophical writing
Motivational writing
Didactic writing
Environmental writing
Travel writing and
Historical writing
make writers multifaceted characters skilled in all areas of writing and communication.
Having passed through difficulties in life to get educated, do you have any plan to salvage such a situation for the less privileged youngsters living around you?Especially looking at it from the perspective of Oxygen Pen?
Actually the traditional educational thinking fabric of my country is too entrenched to change, and most people, especially at the rural level, just want to earn money in any way possible. Urban people strive as much as possible to get their children well educated. Finding my kind is almost impossible. The main issue that has to be addressed is not knowing English. Rural people don’t give a damn about the English language, so they don’t have exposure to international educational standards.
Through Oxygen Pen, we can spark interest in English language and literature, but our people are barely interested in anything that wouldn’t fetch them instant income. It will take a long time to transform my country in line with our mission.
