DOT Desk: Two expatriate writers Salma Bani and Shagufta Sharmeen Tania have been named winners of Syed Waliullah Literary Award 2018, says a press release, reports New Age.
Bangla Academy introduced the award at a book fair organised by the academy in London (2011). The fair was organised to recognise the writers at abroad for their special contribution in the field of exercising Bengali language, literature and culture. Earlier this award was known as Bangla Academy Expatriate Writers’ Award.
Salma Bani is Ontario-based fiction writer. She has published several works like Bhangari on 2001 and Immigration on 2014. She is a past recipient of the Kagoj Sahitya Puraskar (2002) and Jibanananda Puraskar (2007).
Shagufta Sharmeen Tania is the author of two novels and two short-story collections. She lives in the UK. Most of her work focuses on the Asian diaspora. She translated Susan Fletcher’s Whitbread Award-winning novel, Eve Green, into Bengali and one of her short stories was featured in Wasafiri Issue 84, Autumn 2015.
The award will be handed over at the closing ceremony of the Amar Ekushey Granthamela on February 29, 2020.