Shaheen Akhtar is one of the most accomplished fiction writers in Bangladesh. She has been writing fiction for almost twenty years.
In a career spanning two decades, Akhtar has written novels and collections of short stories. She is most famous for her second novel Talaash, which won the Prothom Alo Literary Prize in 2004. This novel talks about the Birnaganas, war heroines. Shaheen’s fourth novel, Moyur Shinghashon was awarded the Akhtaruzzaman Elias Literature Prize in 2014. She received the Bangla Academy Literature Award in 2015. Akhtar has also edited a three-volume anthology Soti O Swontontora: Bangla Shahitye Nari, which is about the portrayal of women in Bangla Literature. She currently works as an editor for Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK), which is a human rights organization.
Translated works:
Shaheen Akhtar’s novel Talaash has been translated into English as The Search, published by Zubaan Books, Delhi in 2011. Currently, it is being translated into Korean. Shokhi Rongomala, Shaheen’s second novel, has been translated into English by Shabnam Nadiya and was published as Beloved Rongomala by Bengal Lights in 2018; Nadiya’s translation will be published by Seagull Books in India. The translation of Akhtar’s Oshokhi Din is in progress.
