{{Short description|Sri Lankan writer (1940–2005)}} {{Infobox person | name = Simon Navagattegama<br />සයිමන් නවගත්තේගම | image = Simon Navagattegama.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|09|15}} | birth_place = Navagattegama, British Ceylon | death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|10|09|1940|09|15}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} --> | education = Scholarship to Central College Anuradhapura : Universities of Peradeniya, Vidyodaya and Kelaniya; (did not finish at Peradeniya or Vidyodaya) | occupation = Sinhala novelist, playwright and actor. | years_active = | political_party = LSSP (youth wing)...afterwards generally anti-establishment | spouse = Mallika Navagattegama | children = * Sunny Nawagaththegama, * Maya Nawagaththegama, * Kumara Kashyapa Navagattegama, * Suranimala Sudharshana Navagattegama, * Ayesha Navagattegama | awards = | website = | signature = | footnotes = }}
'''Simon Navagattegama''' [also spelled '''Nawagattegama'''] (September 15, 1940 – October 9, 2005) was a Sinhala novelist, Sinhala Radio Play writer, playwright and actor.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mirrorarts.lk/featured/11485-2025-08-13-07-59-19|title=සයිමන් නවගත්තේගම නම් උමතු ප්රඥාවෙන් යුතු මුනිවරයා |date=13 October 2025 |publisher=mirrorarts.lk |access-date=13 October 2025}}</ref>
He is well known for his novel "Sansararanye Dhadayakkaraya" (Hunter in the wilderness of the Sansara) for its magical realism which is influenced by Buddhist mythologies, Mahayana Buddhist concepts and Freudian and Jungian psychoanalysis.<ref name=ruwan>{{cite web | url = http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/11/23/psychoanalytic-novels-of-simon-navagattegama-2/ | title = Psychoanalytic Novels of Simon Navagattegama | last = Jayatunge | first = Ruwan M. | date = 23 November 2016 | website = LankaWeb | access-date = | quote = }}</ref>
==Literary style==
K. K. Saman Kumara, a literary critic and writer in Sri Lanka, calls Simon as the predecessor of magical realism in Sri Lanka<ref>{{cite book | last = Saman Kumara | first = K. K. | title = සාහිත්ය ෂානර විමංසා [Analysis of Literary Genres] | publisher = Sayura publishers | edition = first | date = 2014 | pages = 9, 17 | language = Sinhala | isbn = 978-955-4788-08-4 }}</ref> and calls his literary style as a Buddhist Borgesian one.<ref name = wisdom/> Saman Kumara terms the Simon's Literature as the ‘Buddhist Wisdom Literature’, taking it as a separate genre, which is unique to Sri Lanka. He compares Simon's Literary endeavor to the philosophical attempts of Erick Fromm, who tried to merge Buddhism, Marxism, and Freudian psychoanalysis.<ref name = wisdom>{{cite book | last = Saman Kumara | first = K. K. | title = සාහිත්ය ෂානර විමංසා [Analysis of Literary Genres] | publisher = Sayura publishers | edition = first | date = 2014 | pages = 171–172 | language = Sinhala | chapter = බෞද්ධ ප්රඥා මාර්ගික සාහිත්යය [Buddhist Wisdom Literature] | chapter-url = https://cybersarpaya.blogspot.com/2012/03/blog-post_18.html?fbclid=IwAR2wv1vpndkXL-rxLytqsBLgw5yVvvynYHqnd0ev0mq7HB76A53xYnnf5m8 | isbn = 978-955-4788-08-4 }}</ref> Malinda Seneviratne, who translated the Simon's novel Sansararanyaye Dadayakkaraya (Hunter in the wilderness of the Sansara) into English, says that it "was an important literary landmark and Simon is one of the best writers in Sinhala in the second half of the last century."<ref>{{cite news | last = Seneviratne | first = Malinda | author-link = | title = On Winning The Gratiaen| pages = | newspaper = Colomco Telegraph | location = | date = 1 June 2014 | url = https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/on-winning-the-gratiaen/}} </ref> Deepthi Kumara Gunarathna, has identified ‘Hunter in the wilderness of the Sansara’ as a novel which shows a postmodernism unique to Sri Lanka.<ref name = wisdom/>
K. K. Saman Kumara recognizes Simon Navagaththegama as one of authors, which he calls as the ‘Modernist Trinity’ in Sinhala Literature, Tennyson Perera and Ajith Thilakasena among others.<ref>{{cite interview |last=Saman Kumara |first=K. K. |interviewer= Sunil Mihindhukula |title=මම ඉතිං ජීවත් වෙන්න මේසන් බාස්ලා වගෙ එක එක වැඩ කරනවා - කේ. කේ. සමන් කුමාර |work=vivarannews.com|publisher= |url=http://www.vivaranews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1569:2017-10-05-20-40-45&catid=56&Itemid=144 |location= |date=October 5, 2017 |language=Sinhala}}</ref>
==Works==
=== Books=== *Ohuge Kathawa (ඔහුගේ කතාව) *Saagara Jalaya Madi Handuwa Obasanda [Short Story collection] (සාගර ජලය මඳි හැඬුවා ඔබ සන්දා) *Saahithyaya, Samajawadaya saha kala vicharaya *Suddhilage Kathawa (සුද්දිලාගේ කතාව) *Sansaranyaye Dadayakkaraya [Hunter in the Wilderness of Sansara] (සංසාරාරණ්යයේ දඩයක්කාරයා) *Sansaranyaye Urumakkaraya (සංසාරාරණ්යයේ උරුමක්කාරයා) *Sansaranyaya Asabada (සංසාරාරණ්යය අසබඩ) *Dadayakkarayage Kathawa (දඩයක්කාරයාගේ කතාව) *Saankawa (සාංකාව) *Sapeshani (සාපේක්ෂණී) *Ksheera Sagaraya Kalabina (ක්ෂීර සාගරය කැලඹිණ) *Himalaya tharanaya kala Arjuna kumarayage Kathava *Wanaraya *Acharya Bryan De Cretser, Ohy saha ohuge adahas *Kalawa, Samajawadaya saha Kala Vicharaya *Bawanawa (බාවනාව)
=== Film scripts === * Suddilage Kathaawa * Siri Medura * Sagara Jalaya Madi Haduwa Obasanda * Seilama * Shieera Sagaraya Kelabina (production of the movie delayed due to the cost involved)
===Radio play=== *Wanaraya
===Stage drama=== *ගංඟාවක්,සපත්තුකබලක් සහ මරණයක්1970 *Puslodan 1973 *Suba saha Yasa 1974 (සුබ සහ යස) *Sthrii (woman) *Sudu saha Kalu *Pandukhabaya *gagana sarana kurullane 1971
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links== *[http://www.films.lk/ArtistDetails.php?id=802 Simon Nawagaththegama on Sinhala Cinema Database] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060103143440/http://www.dailynews.lk/2005/10/22/fea08.htm Daily News] *[https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2005/10/16/fea34.html Sunday Observer] *{{IMDb name|0623170 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Navagattegama, Simon}} Category:1940 births Category:2005 deaths Category:Sri Lankan dramatists and playwrights Category:Sri Lankan radio writers Category:Alumni of the University of Peradeniya Category:20th-century Sri Lankan novelists Category:20th-century dramatists and playwrights Category:Kala Keerthi Category:20th-century Sri Lankan screenwriters Category:Alumni of Anuradhapura Central College