Nineteen seventy one and other stories: a collection of short stories

Rashid Askari is one of the promising story-tellers of our time and an emerging talent to Bangladeshi fiction in English. He is firmly committed to the spirit of our Liberation War of 1971 and the indomitable Bengalines of our people. His intriguingly-named collection of stories Nineteen Seventy One and Other Stories is the quintessence of his deep rooted emotional attachment to the land and its culture and fine literary craftsmanship. Askari's stories possess the essential makings of good short fiction. He writes witty, racy stories with surprisingly serious undertones. Picking real-life events from the remote areas and the marginal people of the country and weaving them into various fictional forms are the hallmarks of his storytelling. The perplexing vagaries of the metropolitan life, however, do not escape his attention. His sure direction efficiently captures the subtle nuances of human behaviour. Though not new in a ground-breaking way, his stories are both intense and original. The overall tone of his language is gently sarcastic, although one feels a genuine compassion for the hapless men and women he describes. Rashid Askari has already made a name for himself in our literary arena for his work in Bangla. This collection of gripping tales, I am sure, will add to his reputation and ensure his place in contemporary fiction written in English. Prof. Syed Manzoorul Islam Department of English University of Dhaka. Rashid Askari is one of the handful of writers in Bangladesh who write both Bengali and English with equal ease and efficiency. Born on 1st June, 1965 in a sleepy little town of Rangpur, he took an Honours and a Master's in English from Dhaka University, and a Master's in English literature from Dhaka University, and a PhD in Indian English literature from the University of Poona. He is now a professor of English at Kushtia Islamic University.

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