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The Butterflies of Kilinochchi

The Butterflies of Kilinochchi

Sheela Tomy
,
Akhil Jose
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In Kilinochchi, the dead speak through survivors of the civil war in Sri Lanka. In Jerusalem, tension erupts after the death of Jesus. In rural Kerala, a sexton steals money from the church fund to pay for his son’s surgery. In Abu Dhabi, an auditor recalls her colleague who made her life bearable in the desert.

Many voices come together in this collection of eleven stories connected by a shared inheritance of violence. Devastating and unflinching, The Butterflies of Kilinochchi takes readers through many terrains, many cities and many histories, reminding us how faith, war and labour leave their mark on us.

Imprint: India Penguin

Published: Dec/2026

ISBN: 9789377307547 (Paperback)

Length : 232 Pages

MRP : ₹499.00

The Butterflies of Kilinochchi

Sheela Tomy
,
Akhil Jose

In Kilinochchi, the dead speak through survivors of the civil war in Sri Lanka. In Jerusalem, tension erupts after the death of Jesus. In rural Kerala, a sexton steals money from the church fund to pay for his son’s surgery. In Abu Dhabi, an auditor recalls her colleague who made her life bearable in the desert.

Many voices come together in this collection of eleven stories connected by a shared inheritance of violence. Devastating and unflinching, The Butterflies of Kilinochchi takes readers through many terrains, many cities and many histories, reminding us how faith, war and labour leave their mark on us.

Buying Options
Paperback / Hardback

Sheela Tomy

Sheela Tomy is a distinguished Malayalam writer whose literary voice is deeply rooted in the landscapes of her birthplace: Mananthavady, Wayanad. Her debut novel, Valli, won the Cherukad Award and its English translation was shortlisted for the prestigious JCB Prize for Literature and the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) National Translation Award. Her second novel, Aa Nadiyodu Peru Chodikkarithu (translated as Do Not Ask The River Her Name), won the Muthukulam Parvathy Amma Memorial Literary Award, the Maniyur E. Balan Literary Award and the James K.C. Manimala Award. She has also published the short-story collections Melquiadesinte Pralayapusthakam and Kilinochchiyile Shalabhangal.

Akhil Jose

Akhil Jose is a writer, translator and researcher. He is currently pursuing his PhD at Alliance University, Bengaluru. As a translator, he has rendered Mobin Mohan’s Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar-winning novel Jacaranda into English, published by Penprints. His translated work Mission Green Planet has appeared in Antonine Literary Magazine.

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