‘Handwriting explores Sri Lankan history,geography,ceremonies and myths. It is crowded with scintillating images, such as a tightrope-walker caught in a power cut, [and] beautiful colours and textures'

‘Elliptical and careful, raw and perfectly pitched, but always beautifully conceived and delicately etched in "wild cursive scripts" with the stylized slant of a fine and practised hand'Scotland on Sunday

‘Ondaatje... [has] turned his technical competence on a subject close to his heart. The result is a set of intimate, gentle poems, transcribing the history,landscape and traditions of Ceylon'The Times  ‘Michael Ondaatje defies the normal distinction between poet and novelist. His writing is consistently tuned to a visionary pitch'Graham Swift

1

A Gentleman Compares His Virtue...

The Distance of a Shout

Buried

The Brother Thief

To Anuradhapura

The First Rule of Sinhalese Architecture

The Medieval Coast

Buried 2

2

The Nine Sentiments

3

Flight

Wells

The Siyabaslakara

Driving with Dominic...

Death at Kataragama

The Great Tree

The Story

House on a Red Cliff

Step

Last Ink