Hello  🙂 I’m Thirangie, a writer and editor of Sri Lankan/South Asian origin.  Welcome to my website and thanks for dropping by. I write poetry, fiction and feature articles. Written in a narrative prose poetry style, my poetry addresses social politics, nostalgia, place and memory. My fiction typically includes young female protagonists grappling with the themes of gender, ethnicity, identity and growing up. I’ve been published in Airport Road, The Gazelle, Jacaranda, Xenozine, Farrago Magazine, Myriad Magazine, Postscript, Grattan Street Press and Asymptote Journal. I’ve appeared as an artist for the National Young Writers Festival and read my work at the Emerging Writers Festival.

I also work as a freelance editor, sensitivity reader, and moderator. If you’d like to get in touch about any of these roles, please contact me through here and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Keep reading to find out more about how I became a writer and how I’m involved in the literary and publishing industry.

When I was 9, I wrote my first poem. It was about the beach. Then I wrote a second one about stars and mothers coming to say goodnight, and a third one about my recently paralysed grandfather. I guess that was a productive first day of writing. I continued to write poetry (on things only important to children like a tooth falling out, the clowns on my bedsheet, and probably an argument with my brother), and then short stories and slightly longer fiction. I soon decided that I wanted to become a writer. So about 10 years later, it seemed an obvious choice to grow up to become a literature and creative writing major. At uni, I became friends with a lot of people from around the world, and as I learned more about them and their cultures (and read more books from around the world), I realised how many histories I didn’t know of. I started to think about the stories that don’t get talked about often. At the same time, I discovered feature articles and I loved them for their ability for narrative and in-depth non-fiction storytelling. Feature articles also exposed me to my first editorial stint, which then eventually led me to a masters in Creative Writing, Publishing and Editing. And now I love books even more: reading them, writing them (ongoing), and making them.

I’ve also worked as an editor for publishing houses, small presses, and journals in Sri Lanka, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, and Singapore. These include Antithesis Journal, Grattan Street Press, Geoffrey Bawa Trust, Postscript, Revarena Ediciones, The Gazelle, Airport Road, and Perera Hussein Publishing House. I am currently on the Editors Victoria committee, and a member on an Institute of Professional Editors Working Party.

In my professional career, I have orbited around writing related fields and careers: working in editorial and corporate communications roles; teaching digital media, communications and writing at university; and working for literary festivals. I’ve also curated and moderated literary events (talking to authors about their writing must be one of the best jobs in the world!). I’d love to keep working in creative and cultural industries.

Outside of work, I spend my time looking for more books to read, playing with dogs, and taking photographs.