A connect with readers
“A novel has the power to connect with people's minds and hearts. This is called interiority. Literature can do what the film or television media are unable to do,” said Bangladeshi British novelist Zia Haider Rahman.
He was addressing a programme titled “In the light of what readers think: An encounter with Zia Haider Rahman” in Chittagong, on Sunday evening. The city's largest book shop Baatighar had organised the event at Chittagong Press Club (CPC) where participants had the opportunity to interact with the novelist.
Eminent personalities, writers, poets, educationists and journalists thronged the book shop early evening onwards. To start with, Professor Masud Mahmood of Chittagong University introduced the writer to the gathering.
In his speech, the writer, who has won acclaim for his debut novel “In the Light of What We Know”, said he was moved by the large turnout and warm ambience of Baatighar that not only merely housed books but was a fertile ground for people to exchange ideas.
Zia said that he had a close emotional bond with Sylhet and Bangladesh, particularly Hasimpur village of Kulaura (Sylhet) from where he with his family moved to London.
Later, he described how he turned into a writer. “I had a number of jobs but was not wholly satisfied. I am a very curious person so I studied diverse subject like mathematics. I am not an ambitious person. I love learning,” said the novelist who has studied at universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Munich and Yale.
In response to questions raised by the audience , Zia said he first started writing 25 years ago; however at that he did not think of having his works published.
The programme concluded with the writer's observation that he wanted translations of his debut novel at the earliest.
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