While in Sri Lanka this summer, Professor Stephen C. Berkwitz presented a copy of his book, Buddhist Poetry and Colonialism, to Mr. Herbert Kumar Alagiyawanna, a living descendent of the poet Alagiyavanna, who is the subject of Professor Berkwitz’s book.  Mr. Alagiyawanna, a journalist and author in Sri Lanka, assisted him with his research by sharing the oral history of the poet Alagiyavanna’s life, as passed down in his family.