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On the latest edition of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Lancashire’s Desi Nation presenter Raees Khan spoke to Dinesh Allirajah. He is a writer of short stories, a poet and a creative writing lecturer.

Born in London in 1967, he's the younger son of a Sinhalese mother and a Tamil father. In 2004 he published his short story collection, A Manner Of Speaking, and 2011 saw the release of his electronic chapbook, The Prisoners/Overnight.

He also lectures in Creative Writing at University of Central Lancashire and Edge Hill University, and is the Chair of the New Black Artists Association and a Director of Comma Press.

In this excerpt from the interview he talks about arriving in Sri Lanka for the first time amidst a warzone, and discovering his roots…