1 Paradigm Shift in Sri Lankan Women Writers: Kumari Jayawardena, Nira Wickramsinghe, & Thisuri Wanniarchchi Dr. Shamenaz Bano, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Rajarshi Tandon Mahila Mahavidhyalaya, Allahabad Literature in Sri Lanka has seen tremendous change in the recent years in terms of themes as compare to some decades back especially regarding women writers. Earlier in the fifties both men and women had focused on different subjects in writing. Critically both felt- “that women wrote only about ‘womanly’ subjects, limiting themselves to domesticity or particular womanly experience”. However now we can find myriad themes which colours the works of female writers of the island country. The dark side of the lives of an individual living in a country which has seen many political upheavals and unrest forms the basis of writing of many individuals. Barring these, they are exploring the dark side of human lives like, homosexuality, lesbianism and sexual aberrations in their writing. So now they are focussing on a broad spectrum of themes and exploring the entire of social and political happenings in their works. Vijitha Yapa, a famous journalist turned book publisher ascribes this change to the changing economic condition of the country, the liberation of economy, and the influx of investors resulting in women emancipation in almost all the fields. This has led to raising the status of women writers by expanding their horizons and experiences. Yapa is herself a very famous publisher of English language books in her country. She sees a, “a new generation of women writers exploring social issues through novels, the short story, drama and verse. Publishers now have a wide array of choices from women writers instead of a few limited manuscripts. Quite a few of our publications of women’s work have won state literary and other awards.”