Romesh Gunesekera is the author of many acclaimed works of fiction including Reef, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, The Sandglass, winner of the inaugural BBC Asia Award, and The Match, the ground-breaking cricket novel. His debut collection of stories, Monkfish Moon, was a New York Times Notable Book. His 2014 book Noontide Toll captured a vital moment in post-war Sri Lanka.Gunesekera's new novel is Suncatcher.
At the Guardian he tagged five books to spark new understanding about politics, including:
José Rizal – now honoured as the first Filipino – launched his subversive novel Noli Me Tángere in 1887 (written in Spanish, printed in Germany) to galvanise his readers into political action. His story of Crisóstomo – an idealistic Filipino who returns from Europe to modernise his country and marry his childhood sweetheart – was condemned by the Spanish authorities. Rizal’s anticolonial writing led to his execution nine years later, but the novel ignited the fight for freedom from Spanish rule.Read about another entry on the list.
--Marshal Zeringue
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