Sasanka Perera was Founding Professor of Sociology at South Asian University, New Delhi (2011-2024) and the Head of Sociology at University of Colombo (1992-2011). He was the Editor in Chief of the Society and Culture in South Asia journal from 2010 to 2020. His publications include Warzone Tourism in Sri Lanka: Tales from Darker Places in Paradise, Violence and The Burden of Memory: Remembrance and Erasure in Sinhala Consciousness, Fear of the Visual? Photography, Anthropology and the Anxieties of Seeing and a collection of poetry in Sinhala. He has co-written Against the Nation: Thinking Like South Asians and co-edited Intersections of Contemporary Art, Anthropology and Art History in South Asia: Decoding Visual Worlds, Culture and Politics in South Asia: Performative Communication, Sociology and Social Anthropology in South Asia: Histories and Practices and Humour and the Performance of Power in South Asia: Anxiety, Laughter and Politics in Unstable Times.
Sasanka’s Sinahla translation of Lucas Hnath’s play, DollsHouse 2 won Sri Lanka’s State Award for the Best Translation of a Play (2023) and was produced for the stage that year. His co-translation of 150 poems by Rumi into Sinhala was also awarded Sri Lanka’s State Award for the Best Translation of Poetry (2023).