Novelist Dilara Hashem passes away
Novelist and journalist Dilara Hashem passed away on Saturday in Maryland, USA. She was 86.
New York expatriate and former Voice of America journalist Akbar Haider Kiran has confirmed the news.
She was born in Jessore on 21 August 1936.
In 1956, Dilara obtained a master's degree in English literature from Dhaka University.
She started working in the Bangla section of the VOA in 1976 and retired in 2011. Before moving to the United States, she was a news presenter for BBC London.
Dilara Hashem also worked as a regular news presenter for Radio Pakistan Karachi for a long time. After independence, she worked for Bangladesh Betar and Television.
Dilara Hashem, a former radio presenter of Voice of America (VOA), was a well-known writer.
Her first novel, Ghar Man Janala (Houses, Hearts and Windows) was published in 1965. Later, a film was made in 1973 based on this novel.
Some of her notable works are Ekoda Ebong Ananto (Once and Ever, 1975), Stabdhatar Kane Kane (Whispering to Silence, 1977), Amlokir Mou (The Sweet from the Bitterest, 1978), Badami Bikeler Galpo (Stories of a Brown Afternoon, 1983), Kaktaleya (Coincident, 1985), Mural (1986), Shankho Korat (Horns of a Dilemma 1995), Anukta Padaboli (Unspoken Verses, 1998), Sador Andor (Outer and Inner Part, 1998) and Setu (Bridge, 2000).
Dilara has received quite a few accolades for her contribution to the field of literature.
Notable among them are Bangla Academy Literary Award (1976), Shankhachil Sahitya Puraskar and Chicago Sahitya Puraskar (1997).
