Sonali Deraniyagala

{{Infobox person

| name = Sonali Deraniyagala

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1964}}

| birth_place = Colombo, Sri Lanka

| occupation = Economist, memoirist

| alma_mater = {{ubl|Cambridge University|University of Oxford}}

| spouse = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Stephen Lissenburgh
|1990|2004|end={{abbr|died}}}}|{{marriage|Fiona Shaw
|2018}}}}

| children = 2

}}

Sonali Deraniyagala (born 1964) is a Sri Lankan memoirist and economist.[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/gen1005.html Mother who lost everyone], The Evening Standard, 11 January 2005 by Lech Mintowt-Czyz {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812205404/http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/gen1005.html |date=12 August 2014 }} She serves as a lecturer in Economics at the SOAS South Asia Institute.

Personal life

She was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka,{{cite news|last=Neary|first=Lynn|title='Wave' Tells A True Story Of Survival And Loss In The 2004 Tsunami|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/03/05/173419255/wave-tells-a-true-story-of-survival-and-loss-in-the-2004-tsunami|newspaper=NPR|date=5 March 2013}} to lawyer (Justin) Edward Pieris Deraniyagala and Gemini Deraniyagala.{{Cite news |last=ONeill |first=Sean |date=2023-07-31 |title=Hope fades for holiday family |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/best-law-firms/profile-legal/article/hope-fades-for-holiday-family-clps0vlhsx6 |access-date=2023-08-01 |issn=0140-0460}}{{Cite web |date=2005-01-13 |title=Tsunami took my family |url=https://www.times-series.co.uk/news/560997.tsunami-took-family/ |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=Times Series |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Eloquent advocate, lover of wildlife and the complete gentleman |url=https://www.sundaytimes.lk/091227/Plus/plus_08.html |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=www.sundaytimes.lk}}

In 1990, she married economist Stephen Lissenburgh (1964-2004), who "made large contributions to British public policy research".{{Cite web |date=2005-01-20 |title=Stephen Lissenburgh |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/stephen-lissenburgh-15784.html |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=The Independent |language=en}}

While on vacation at Sri Lanka's Yala National Park in December 2004, she lost her husband,{{cite news|url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/03/sonali-deraniyagala-wave-review-teju-cole.html|title=A Better Quality of Agony|last=Cole|first=Teju|date=28 March 2013|newspaper=The New Yorker}} their two sons, her parents, her best friend, and her best friend's mother in the Indian Ocean tsunami.{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Kanya King; Life after the tsunami; Cervical cancer tests and screening; Bank notes, Sonali Deraniyagala |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02g4rfq |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} The tsunami carried her two miles inland and she was able to survive by clinging to a tree branch.{{cite news|last=Adams|first=Tim|title=The tsunami survivor who lost her whole family|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/09/sonali-deraniyagala-wave-tsunami-interview|newspaper=The Guardian|date=9 March 2013}}{{Cite web |last=Mahendra |first=Sachitra |title=The word that made waves |url=https://www.dailynews.lk/2019/12/24/tc/206492/word-made-waves |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=Daily News |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Yala’s tribute to two boys who loved its wilds |url=https://www.sundaytimes.lk/091220/Plus/plus_10.html |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=www.sundaytimes.lk}} She reportedly suffered unconsciousness and internal bleeding. Following the tsunami, she was taken to her aunt's house in Colombo. There, she stayed beneath the covers of her cousin’s bed, hoarding sleeping pills for comfort and solace; she attempted to stab herself with a butter knife and smashed her head on the sharp corner of the wooden headboard of the bed in reaction to the trauma of the tsunami.{{Cite web |title=‘Tsunami’ Sonali finds love and bliss marrying ‘Potter’ actress Fiona Shaw |url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/190324/columns/tsunami-sonali-finds-love-and-bliss-marrying-potter-actress-fiona-shaw-342430.html |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=The Sunday Times Sri Lanka}}{{Cite news |last=Deraniyagala |first=Sonali |title="It was unimaginable. Only I survived": Sonali Deraniyagala on losing her family in the Boxing Day tsunami |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/asia/article/it-was-unimaginable-only-i-survived-sonali-deraniyagala-on-losing-her-family-in-the-boxing-day-tsunami-7fvsmklz7 |access-date=2022-12-20 |issn=0140-0460}} She attempted suicide and also began using alcohol in a bid to forget the tragedy.{{Cite web |title=CATASTROPHIC LOSS CLEAVES LIFE INTO Z ‘BEFORE’ AND AN AFTER - News Features {{!}} Daily Mirror |url=https://www.dailymirror.lk/news-features/CATASTROPHIC-LOSS-CLEAVES-LIFE-INTO-Z-BEFORE-AND-AN-AFTER/131-180224 |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=www.dailymirror.lk |language=English}}

She went to New York at the end of 2006 to begin a new life after the trauma of the tsunami. Moving to New York, she chose a small apartment in Greenwich Village. She was convinced by her therapist to write down her painful memories to help her relax from the trauma.

She started dating the actress Fiona Shaw in 2018 after years of dating men only; the couple got married after Sonali proposed to Fiona a few months later.{{Cite news |last=Calkin |first=Jessamy |date=2019-05-24 |title=Killing Eve's secret weapon Fiona Shaw on finding new fame, and falling in love at almost 60 |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/killing-eves-secret-weapon-fiona-shaw-finding-new-fame-falling/ |access-date=2022-12-20 |issn=0307-1235}}{{cite news|last=Hogan|first=Michael|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/mar/03/fiona-shaw-interview-fleabag-delighted-to-be-in-with-the-young-crowd-killing-eve|title=Fiona Shaw: 'I'm delighted to be in with the young crowd!'|work=The Observer|date=3 March 2019|access-date=17 August 2020}}{{Cite web |last=Edmonds |first=Lizzie |date=2020-06-19 |title=Fiona Shaw: I wasn't ready to marry until later in life |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/fiona-shaw-marriage-later-in-life-a4474321.html |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}

She considers Joan Didion and Michael Ondaatje her favourite literary heroes.{{Cite web |title=Writing to remember {{!}} The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka |url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130512/plus/writing-to-remember-43826.html |access-date=2022-12-20}}

Career

She studied economics at Cambridge University and has a doctorate from the University of Oxford. She is on the faculty of the Department of Economics at SOAS, University of London and is a research scholar at Columbia University in New York City. She lives in New York City, and London.[https://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/2299/sonali-deraniyagala Sonali Deraniyagala, Biography], retrieved 29 October 2014

After surviving the tsunami, Deraniyagala relocated to New York where she became a visiting research scholar at Columbia University. Her 2013 memoir, Wave, recounts her experiences in the tsunami and the progression of her grief in the ensuing years.{{Cite web |last=Alston |first=T. A. |date=2017-05-03 |title=A "Wave" Comes Calling |url=https://medium.com/the-jt-lit-review/a-wave-comes-calling-aad9a8a53c83 |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=The JT Lit Review |language=en}}{{cite news|last=Strayed|first=Cheryl|title=Washed Away|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/books/review/wave-by-sonali-deraniyagala.html?pagewanted=all|newspaper=The New York Times|date=22 March 2013}} Sonali began writing her memoir Wave in 2010, where she describes her personal experiences in the aftermath of the tsunami and how she coped with it.{{Cite web |date=2013-04-14 |title=Book review: Wave, a Memoir of Life After the Tsunami |url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1213008/book-review-wave-memoir-life-after-tsunami |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}} The book became an instant hit and much to Sonali's surprise, it became one of the most sought-after memoirs globally. It was shortlisted for the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award (Autobiography){{cite web |url=http://www.mhpbooks.com/nbcc-finalists-announced/ |title=NBCC finalists announced |work=Melville House Publishing |author=Kirsten Reach |date=January 14, 2014 |accessdate=January 14, 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/announcing-the-national-book-critics-awards-finalists |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115014055/http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/announcing-the-national-book-critics-awards-finalists |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 15, 2014 |title=Announcing the National Book Critics Awards Finalists for Publishing Year 2013 |publisher=National Book Critics Circle |date=January 14, 2014 |accessdate=January 14, 2014}} and won the PEN Ackerley Prize 2013.{{cite web|last1=Ziemer|first1=Julia|title=Sonali Deraniyagala wins PEN/Ackerley Prize 2014|url=http://www.englishpen.org/press/sonali-deraniyagala-wins-penackerley-prize-2014/|accessdate=30 June 2015}} This book is currently used as a prose passage in the education system (O/Level) for English Literature in Sri Lanka.{{Cite web |title=My family died in a tsunami I know Indonesia can recover too – with help |url=https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/news-features/My-family-died-in-a-tsunami-I-know-Indonesia-can-recover-too-with-help-/131-160356 |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=www.dailymirror.lk |language=English}}

She has also expressed her concerns, insights and opinions about the 2019–present Sri Lankan economic crisis to various platforms.{{Cite web |date=2022-10-14 |title=The human dimension to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis |url=https://www.himalmag.com/sonali-deraniyagala-human-dimension-to-sri-lankas-economic-crisis-2022/ |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=Himal Southasian |language=en-GB}}