Bangladeshi writer and researcher Dr Numair Atif Choudhury’s only novel “Babu Bangladesh!” has been shortlisted for this year’s Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize, which aims to celebrate literature from South Asia.

He is the first Bangladeshi author to be shortlisted for the literary award, according to a press release.

Numair passed away in Japan on September 9 last year.

“Babu Bangladesh!” was published on June 25 this year. It presents a biography of a national superhero who has lived through both his country’s bloody past and the threatening chaos of its imminent  future. “Although surreal and psychedelic, this roller-coaster of a novel wears its thrumming political heart on its sleeve,” says a press release from Shakti Bhatt Foundation.

This is the 12th year of the prize. The press release added, “Despite the fact that our 2019 list comprises of five rather than six books, we are confident in the diversity of themes and genres it represents. The selected books speak of origins and futures,  of satirical masculinities and the continuing vulnerability of women in  our society, of vaulting ambitions and the sweetness of dreams. Never  flinching from confronting ugly truths or recognising the delicate  thread of hope, they provide a vivid commentary on South Asia’s social  and political fissures, its unresolved anxieties and contemporary concerns.”

Three of the shortlisted books are by Indian authors -- “Ib’s Endless Search for Satisfaction” by Roshan Ali; “No Nation for Women” by Priyanka Dubey, and “Early Indians” by Tony Joseph, while “Goodbye Freddie Mercury” is by Pakistani author Nadia Akbar.