On Tuesday, Kenyon welcomed 2022 Booker Prize-winning author Shehan Karunatilaka to Oden Auditorium to discuss his works — or, as he put it, to “read and ramble” for an hour or two. Even before he spoke, his prestige was obvious. In the lobby, students and professors alike stood with Karunatilaka’s novels in hand. All eagerly waited for a signature and the chance to ask him about his genre-bending storytelling, which often blends the political, cultural and supernatural. As I scrambled to find an open seat, I began to worry. Could somebody like me, totally unfamiliar with Karunatilaka and his works, get anything out of his “ramblings?” Or would his message be lost on me?

In the thick of my worry, the room fell silent. The projector was refusing to work, much to the dismay of the crowd. However, Karunatilaka was not worried. He approached the microphone with a warm smile, assuring us that the problem would be sorted out soon.

“You can keep chattering,” he announced with a grin, putting my mind at ease. Despite his accolades, Karunatilaka wasn’t an inaccessible celebrity, but a writer who strove to connect with the audience. Once the projector blinked to life and he began to speak, Karunatilaka’s love for communication and expression became that much more evident.

Karunatilaka had no interest in bragging about his résumé. He opened his lecture by jokingly presenting ‘The 3 Steps to Winning a Booker,’ which, according to him, could be followed by anyone to win the award. All one had to do was “write a really good book…find a publisher who loves it, [then] get really, really lucky,” which he assured us was easier said than done. By laying out his success so humorously, Karunatilaka came across as witty and optimistic. 

Karunatilaka’s Booker-winner, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, follows a murdered war photographer as he unravels his own mysterious death from the afterlife. Karunatilaka seems drawn to defying expectations. “All [my] books end on a slight note of optimism,” he told us, admitting that he prefers to look on the bright side. While shying away from spoilers, he assured the audience that the ghost of Seven Moons does get a happy ending (though we’ll have to read the book to find out for sure). After discussing his novel, he read his short story “Hugs.” The story, a modern fable, starts with a child who doesn’t receive a hug from her father. She, in turn, bullies her classmates, causing escalating events that lead to smashed cars, burning stores and nationwide chaos. Once everything has collapsed, Karunatilaka rewinds the story to its beginning. “What if every person chose to embrace instead of punch?” the story asks. “Hugs are the one energy source with an infinite supply. Could we at least try it out and see?”

Everything Karunatilaka says and writes seems to subvert cynicism and emphasize hope, making us laugh a lot and listen more. With this in mind, it makes sense that he’s also an accomplished children’s author — he proudly states that his picture book Where Shall I Poop? is his “true masterpiece.” Hopefully, that one gets the Booker it deserves, too.

During the Q&A session following his readings, many students asked Karunatilaka questions regarding the political state of his home country, Sri Lanka, and his own religious beliefs. He chuckled at the heaviness of the questions and answered them with a smile. “I’m getting a call from my wife,” he laughed, miming a phone call. “‘Don’t answer the political questions!’” When asked about the inspiration behind his work, he cited “Beetlejuice” and Dante’s Inferno in the same breath. He lamented 300-page manuscripts that he had to throw away, but told us that the ideas always have managed to survive. 

For an author with such fondness for the supernatural, Karunatilaka finds delight in the beauty of the small and the ordinary, detesting wastefulness and violence. “Good sits in a corner, collects a check and pays a mortgage. Evil builds empires,” he said. But while his characters and settings may be fantastical, the optimism he conveys is real. The trouble is finding it. Thankfully, with his tireless humor and humanity, Karunatilaka shows us where to look.