Kazi Anis Ahmed
K. Anis Ahmed is a Bangladeshi writer and publisher of the English-language literary journal Bengal Lights.[1] Ahmed is the author of two books: a short story collection called Goodnight Mr. Kissinger and a novel, The World in My Hands, published by Random House. He has been called one of the most significant voices in Bangladesh today.[2]
As an author of short stories and a novel, he is one of the leading proponents of Bangladeshi English literature[3] Along with writers like Tahmima Anam and Maria Chaudhuri, Ahmed is part of a new generation of writers who use English "to connect to the larger corpus of world literature", and as a "rejection of the insularity of contemporary Bangla-language literature." [4]
Career
Ahmed's debut collection of short stories, Goodnight Mr. Kissinger, was published in Bangladesh launched at the Hay Festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2012. [5] An American edition will be published in February 2014. The book has been hailed as a "poignant portrait of a city and the characters that live in the wake of great change" by follow Bangladeshi writer Tahmima Anam.[6]
Ahmed's first novel, The World in My Hands, was published by Random House in December 2013, and has received excellent reviews. The book is a political satire that charts the fate of two friends--a newspaper editor and a successful property developer--who find their relationship bitterly tested when they find themselves on opposite sides of a crisis that upends their country's social order.[7] [8]
According to a January 2014 interview, Ahmed's next novel will be a comedy about foodies in New York.[9]
In addition to his literary career, Ahmed runs Kazi Tea Estate Ltd. with his family. Kazi is an organic, sustainable tea garden and cooperative in northwest Bangladesh that is the single source for the tea company Teatulia. Teatulia tea is distributed in Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, the United States, and will soon be available in Japan.[10]
Education
K. Anis Ahmed was educated in Dhaka, Brown University, Washington University and New York University.[11]
See also
References
- ^ K Anis Ahmed's novel The World In My Hands launched | The Daily Star thedailystar.net (2013-12-31). Retrieved on 2014-01-19.
- ^ http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/striking-the-right-balance/article5534774.ece
- ^ Q&A: Bengal Lights, Bangladesh’s New Literary Journal | Wall Street Journal India http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/ (2012-07-09). Retrieved 2014-01-19.
- ^ Bangladesh on the World Stage: An Introduction | World Literature Today May 2013 Retrieved on 2014-01-19.
- ^ English-Language Literature Finds Its Place in Bangladesh | The Huffington Post www.huffingtonpost.com (2012-11-20). Retrieved 2014-01-19.
- ^ http://www.ricochetbooks.com/books/book/1
- ^ http://www.thedailystar.net/the-star/the-world-in-my-hands-4988
- ^ http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/mihir-s-sharma-writing-a-country-114011301137_1.html
- ^ World View | Elle India (January 2014)
- ^ http://www.success.com/article/a-growing-venture
- ^ http://www.thedailystar.net/the-star/the-world-in-my-hands-4988