Neamat Imam

Neamat Imam
Born	(1971-01-05) 5 January 1971 Chandpur, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
Nationality	Bangladeshi-Canadian
Citizenship	Canadian
Education	PhD in Theatre Studies, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2003
Alma mater	Dhaka University
Period	1995–present
Genre	Drama, Historical Fiction, Short Fiction, Novel
Spouse	He Wen Shu
Website
http://neamatimam.com/

Neamat Imam (Bengali: নেয়ামত ইমাম; born January 5, 1971) is a Bangladeshi-Canadian author of literary fiction. His first novel, The Black Coat, was published by Penguin Books India from its Hamish Hamilton imprint in 2013. It is considered the "gold standard for any book which seeks to engage with South Asian politics or history" and a "future classic." He has also authored 2 plays, 2 novellas, and a collection of poetry in Bengali language.

In Bangladesh, Imam's book The Black Coat was quoted by Begum Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh's ex-prime minister and leader of the opposition in the national parliament, in her Facebook page because of its anti-Awami League sentiment. He is considered to have exceeded all the indigenous and foreign critics of Sheikh Mujib as he does not accept Sheikh Mujib as the Father of the Bengali Nation because of Sheikh Mujib's introduction of one-party rule in Bangladesh in 1975. Imam is also called a sympathizer of Islamic politics because of his critique of the tribunal set by the Awami League government to try the collaborators of Pakistan.

Biography

Imam was born in a small agricultural village under the district of Chandpur in Bangladesh. It was a village which had no school, no shops, post-office, mosque and no electricity, for which his lessons in alphabet began in the light of a lantern. His father was an elementary schoolteacher and his mother a housewife. He lost his mother when he was 8 and his father when he was 15. Third among four children of his parents, he was raised by his elder brother and elder sister who were senior to him only by a few years. He first saw a newspaper that his brother brought from his office when he was 13 and sat before a TV set for the first time when he was 14.

Imam completed his elementary and secondary education in the next village. At the age of 16, his brother sent him to Laksham to pursue college education. At the age of 18, he moved to Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, where he attended Dhaka University for a BA and an MA in English literature. He earned a PhD degree in Theatre Studies from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece in 2003. He lives in Edmonton, Canada, with his wife He Wen Shu.

Work

Literary career

Imam’s first book, Paravarty Drishwa (Bengali: পরবর্তী দৃশ্য: 1996) was a play in Bengali. It was published by Bangla Academy in Dhaka under its Young Writers Project programme. It was followed by 2 novellas, Elephant Road (Bengali: এলিফ্যান্ট রোড: 1997) and Boidik (Bengali: বৈদিক: 1999). Both Elephant Road and Boidik, and his one-act play Nispriho Nishshoron (Bengali: নিস্পৃহ নিঃসরণ: 1993), were first published in Uttaradhiker (Bengali: উত্তরাধিকার), the Bangla Academy journal for creative writing. 11 years after the publication of Boidik, Adorsho Publishers in Dhaka published his first poetry collection Amaar Rashtro Amaar Nagorik (Bengali: আমার রাষ্ট্র আমার নাগরিক: 2010). Imam also adapted 2 British plays for Bangladesh Television (Edward Bond’s Stone [পাথর] and John Osborne’s Look Back In Anger [ক্ষোভ]), which were starred by such popular actors as Enamul Haq, Lucky Enam, Shirin Bokul and Zamal Uddin Hussain and produced by BTV Director Faridur Rahman.

The Black Coat

Imam’s first book in English, The Black Coat, which is also his first novel, was published by Penguin Books India in 2013. A historical novel, it is based on Prime Minister Sheikh Mujib’s rule of Bangladesh from 1972 to mid-1975 when he was killed in a military coup. Sheikh Mujib is commonly regarded as Father of the Bengali Nation, but Imam depicts him as the country’s first and the deadliest dictator. Imam condemns Bengali nationalists, followers of Mujib, and workers of his party, Bangladesh Awami League, for distorting history to protect Mujib's legacy as a ruler from the attention of the new generation of Bangladesh. He criticises the Sheikh Mujib administration for letting one and a half million people starve to death during and after the Bangladesh famine of 1974, which is at the heart of the story of The Black Coat.

Reception

Imam is represented by David Godwin of David Godwin Associates, a literary agency based in London. He was introduced to David by Literary Consultancy of London. Kavita Bhanot, editor of short story collection “Too Asian, Not Asian Enough” (Tindal Street Press, 2011), and a reader at the Literary Consultancy, said: "I was deeply impressed by Neamat Imam's novel, which I found to be urgent and powerful. I can't think of many contemporary novels that have an ambitious canvas, that make political, social commentary, but also touch your heart because they are written with compassion, experience, wisdom and psychological depth.” Literary Consultancy has also showcased Neamat Imam in their 'Author of the Month' programme for the month of May 2013.

In the first major book review for Outlook India, Indian author Indrajit Hazra called The Black Coat "an extraordinary book ... a fine work of fiction." In his review, entitled "Father And Sons, Or The Lie Of The Land," Hazra added, "Very few novels examine a period in history so convincingly even as it turns away from the standard style of historical fiction. Imam does this in this hyper-realistic tale of fools, thugs, dangerous idealism and sanctified pretence, reminding us who have forgotten a secret function of the novel: to unsettle us, instead of just be moving."

Mint, India's business newspaper, called the book "a powerful fictional revisiting of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s troubled legacy in Bangladesh." Reviewer Arunava Sinha went on to say, "Rich with political statements, this is a novel that achieves its intent in a remarkably creative and artistic manner."

It was also reviewed by Deccan Herald, Financial Express, Daily Star, Asian Review of Books, Sunday Guardian, Business Standard and Mail Today. All the journals hugely praised the novel. Asian Review of Books wrote: “Neamat Imam’s first novel, The Black Coat, is pure satire, written with such disarming earnestness that one might neglect to shake it down and dissect its numerous layers.” Financial Express commented that it was "one of the best (novels) to come out of the subcontinent in the recent past.”

Four months before the novel was published, it was included in the reading list for 2013 in “What's on the reading list this year!,” a feature written by Zafri Mudasser Nofil for Press Trust of India.

Political Views

Imam is a liberal secularist. In an interview with Indrajit Hazra of Hindustan Times on 23 March 2013, Imam clearly stated that he was not an apologist for religion-based politics. In his Bengali blog, he argued that major political parties, such as the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, were working day and night to turn Bangladesh into a radical Islamic state. He accused these parties of exploiting conservative Bangladeshis’ delicate religious sentiment to strengthen their grip on the country’s politics which was gradually pushing Bangladesh towards a dangerous fundamentalist future.

Publications

• 1996. Paravarty Drishwa Bangla Academy: Young Writers Project
• 1997. Elephant Road Osaca
• 1999. Boidik Sandesh
• 2010 Amaar Rashtro Amaar Nagorik Adorsho
• 2013 The Black Coat Penguin Books India

External links

• Neamat Imam's website