Kala Keerthi Carl Muller (22 October 1935 – 2 December 2019) was an award-winning Sri Lankan writer, poet and journalist best known for his trilogy about Burghers in Sri Lanka: The Jam Fruit Tree, Yakada Yaka and Once Upon A Tender Time. He won Gratiaen Awards for The Jam Fruit Tree in 1993 and a State Literary Award for his historical novel, Children of the Lion. He was the first Sri Lankan author to publish a book internationally. He was reported to have died on 2 December 2019 which was confirmed by his son Jeremy Muller.
Biography
Muller was born in Kandy, the eldest in a family of thirteen. Dismissed from three schools, Muller was finally educated at prestigious Royal College, Colombo. He started his first job as a weighbridge clerk at the Mosajee's Wystevyke Mill in Colombo, thereafter he joined the Royal Ceylon Navy and served as a signalman for four years. He then spent four months in the Ceylon Signal Corps, before being discharged as unfit for duty. He then joined the Colombo Port Commission as a signalman in the pilot station. Two years later he joined a new advertising agency established by Tim Horshington. This started his writing career working in advertising, travel and entertainment, before moving into journalism in Ceylon, Dubai and Bahrain. He served as vice-president for international sales at the Export Centre in Sharjah in 1970s with Fred Pettera and later joined Expo Centre Sharjah as part of the management team led by Fasahat Ali Khan under the ownership of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and industry in 1992. He worked for the Times of Oman during the Gulf war before returning to Sri Lanka due to ill health. He went on to briefly serve in the Ceylon Army and later joined the (?) as a signals officer. He married Sortain Harris. He also worked for Gulf News and Khaleej Times in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Muller retired from his lifelong work as the onset of dementia and other medical ailments took a toll on his health. He died on the 2nd of December 2019 at the age of 84 in Kandy with his three children and his grandson at his side.
Bibliography
Novels
The Jam Fruit Tree (Winner of the Gratiaen Prize) (1993) Yakada Yaka (1994) Once Upon A Tender Time (1995) Spit and Polish Maudiegirl and the von Bloss Kitchen
Historical fiction
Colombo – A Novel (1996) Children of the Lion (1997) (Winner of the State Literary Award) City of the Lion
Science fiction
Exodus 2300 (2003)
Essays
Firing at Random
Short stories
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Cemetery
Birdsong & Other Tales
All God's Children (2004) (shortlisted for the Gratiaen Award) The Python of Pura Malai and Other Stories Wedding Night (2007)
Poetry
Father Samaan and the Devil
Sri Lanka – A Lyric
Propitiations
A Bedlam of Persuasions
Clouds over my Senses
Read Me in Silence
The Thin Red Line
Our Star ship and its Sorry Crew
Children's fiction
Ranjit Discovers Where Kandy Began (1992) (also rendered in Sinhala) The Python of Pura Malai and other stories
Academic works
The Elizabethans: The Origin of, and the Great Flowering of Modern English Literature – Volume I
Views and reviews
Many Bulls in My China Shop
More Bulls in My China Shop
More and More Bulls in My China Shop
The Bulls are Back in My China Shop
Monographs
Glorying in that Great Divide
Conflict in Cinderella's Kitchen
The Service Economy: Is there a Dangerous Dichotomisation of Wealth? Productivity: The Key to Economic Domination Tourism: Aiming for that Magic Million God Men Rising: Challenging the Bedrock of Hindu Beliefs and Values Conflict Within: Challenging Sovereignty and Human Solidarity
Aphorism
Carl Muller's Mental Mayhems
Hobbies
Stamp Stories of the USA
Travelogues
Indian Journeys
Works edited
Mews and Purrs (Lancashire, England)]
The Tide Press of a Dedicated Life: A Tribute to Christine Spittel-Wilson
Rendering Unto Caesar
The Poems of Destry Muller (Winner of the State Literary Award) A Rainbow Sash Adorns my Dreaming Sky