Rahat Khan


Rahat Khan is a Bangladeshi journalist and litterateur. He has written more than 32 novels.

Early life

Khan was born on 19 December 1940 in what is now Kishoreganj District. He wrote his first story as a student in class three. In his words, "One day a kite pounced on a small tortoise before our eyes. The event shocked me very much and made me tearful. I don't know why but I wrote a story on it and thus my authorial life began." Khan completed a degree in economics and philosophy at Ananda Mohan College. He earned his MA from the Department of Bangla Language and Literature at the University of Dhaka in 1961. For the next eight years he taught Bangla at various colleges, including Jagannath College in Dhaka.

Career

In 1969, Khan joined the Bangla-language daily newspaper The Daily Ittefaq as assistant editor. He would spend over four decades at the paper, eventually becoming its editor.
In 1972, he published his first collection of short stories, Onischito Lokaloy. The following year he received the Bangla Academy Literary Award for his short stories. He produced further volumes: Ontohin Jatra, Bhalo Monder Taka, and in 1983, Apel Songbad. In the early 1980s he published his debut novel, Omol Dhobol Chakri. He continued writing novels into the 1990s.
After leaving Ittefaq, he was advisory editor of Dainik Bartoman and served on the board of directors of the national news agency, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. In March 2016, he was appointed to a -year term as chairman of the board of BSS.

Themes

The middle and upper class life observed in his novels comes out of urban Dhaka society, while novels such as Omol Dhobol Chakri explore village life.
He also considered Ekushe February and the Bangladeshi Liberation War in works such as Hey Matoh Bong and Hey Mohasunyota.

Novels