Suriya Bookshop

Suriya Bookshop

 

 

The Suriya Bookshop fulfils the SSA’s mandate to publish and disseminate original research as widely as possible. Apart from the SSA publications, a wide range of books from leftist and alternative publishing houses as well as other local non-governmental organizations are available for sale at the Bookshop.

Sydney Wanasinghe, who founded the original Suriya Bookshop, was deeply influenced by the anti- colonial, independence movement of the 1930s in Sri Lanka. The name of the Bookshop was inspired by the Suriya Mal movement which was formed to protest against the sale of Poppies on Armistice Day for the benefit of British ex-servicemen. Since its inception in the 1950s the original Suriya Bookshop has been one of the few bookshops that disseminated leftist and alternative literature.

The SSA’s desire to sustain and further this spirit and ethos led to its decision to open a bookshop by the same name in July 1995. The range of books currently available at the Suriya Bookshop spans the social sciences and includes books on history, society, politics, economics, social theory and gender as well as a wide selection of books by Sri Lankan scholars and academics living and working here and abroad. Selected publications from a range of international publishing houses such as ZED, Sage and Kali for Women are also available at the bookshop. Books in English, Sinhala and Tamil are available at the bookshop.

The Suriya Bookshop is open from 10am to 5pm on weekdays. The bookshop also accepts most credit cards. Books can also be purchased through this site.