Rashid Askari

Rashid Askari in June 2013

Born     1 June 1965 (age 49)
Mithapukur, Rangpur
Occupation     Academic, writer
Nationality     Bangladeshi
Notable works     The Wounded Land, Nineteen seventy one and other stories

Rashid Askari (Bengali: রাশিদ আসকারী, born: 1 June 1965) is a Bengali-English writer, fictionist, columnist, and an academic in Bangladesh. In a review in the Daily Star, Muhammad Alamgir Toimoor wrote: "Among the Bangladeshi writers after mid nineties, he is easily on a par with the major ones who gained identical and impressive mastery over both Bangla and English".

Early life

Askari was born in Mithapukur, Rangpur in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). His father, M. A. Mannan was a high school English teacher, and his mother Setara Begum is a housewife. Rashid passed the secondary school and higher secondary certificate examinations in 1980 and 1982 with outstanding merit.He received "an Honours and a Master's in English from Dhaka University with distinction" in 1985 and 1986. He holds a PhD on Nirad C. Chaudhuri and Indian writing in English done at the University of Pune in 2005. Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 broke out when Rashid was a 7-year-old boy. He is married to Masuma Ferdous and with two children- Humayun Askari and Roja Askari.

Career

Askari joined the department of English at Kushtia Islamic University, Bangladesh as a lecturer in July 1990, and was promoted to professor in 2005. He was the head of the department at several times. He worked as the editor of a number of department and faculty research journals. He served with King Khalid University- the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a professor of English for five years (2008–2013). His first book, The Dying Homeland was published in 1996. Until recently, he has authored seven books, and edited three volumes of Rabindranath Tagore's writings in English. He has also written articles, essays and newspaper columns on a variety of themes ranging from national to international and colonial to postcolonial which have been published at home and abroad. His short story collection in English-Nineteen seventy one and other stories-(December 2011)is a "collection of gripping tales...(and) the quintessence of his deep rooted emotional attachment to the land and its culture and fine literary craftsmanship".It is "a prized inclusion in what we now call Bangladeshi writing in English".The areas of his academic interest include Modern and Postmodern Fiction, Colonial and Postcolonial Literature, South-Asian Writing in English, Literary Theories and Creative Writing. Recently he has been elected "as secretary general of Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers' Association for 2014".

Publications

Books

•     The Dying Homeland, a collection of essays in Bengali, Dhaka-1996.
•     Indo-English Literature and Others, a collection of literary and critical essays in Bengali, Dhaka-1996.
•     Today's Folktale, a collection of short stories in Bengali, Dhaka-1997.
•     Deconstructing Thoughts, a collection of critical essays in Bengali, Dhaka-2001.
•     Postmodern Literary and Critical Theory, a book on literary and critical essays in Bengali, Dhaka-2002 with an introduction by Fakrul Alam.
•     The Wounded Land: Peoples, Politics, Culture, Literature, Liberation War, War Crimes, and Militancy in Bangladesh. Dhaka: Pathak Shamabesh. 2010.
•     Nineteen seventy one and other stories: a collection of short stories. Bangladesh: Shamabesh. 2011. ISBN 9789848866436.
•     Edited books: English Writings of Rabindranath Tagore (3 volumes) Pathak Shamabesh, Dhaka-2012-2013

Articles

•     Nineteen seventy one-a story published in the JPCS (Journal of Post-Colonial Cultures and Societies) Wright State University, Ohio-USA. 'Nineteen seventy one'
•     Lottery-a story published in the CLRI (Contemporary Literary review, India). 'Lottery'
•     Jihad-a story published in the CLRI (Contemporary Literary review India, print edition-Jan 2012 'Jihad' ).
•     Locked-in-syndrome-a story published in the CLRI (Contemporary Literary review India). 'Locked-in-syndrome'
•     War crimes and criminals-an article published in the Brunei Times. 'War crimes and criminals'
•     Future of literature: Global Art-Malady and its Consequences-an article published in the Litsearch, Volume 1, Number 1,India, December 2011: ISSN: 2277-6990(Print). 'Future of literature: Global Art-Malady and its Consequences'
•     Bangladeshi writing in English: The emergence of a new voice-an article published in the Litsearch, Volume III, Number IV, India, October 2013,ISSN 2277-6990 (Print)'

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