A story by Bangladeshi writer Imran Khan has been shortlisted for this year’s Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
The short story “Jyamitik Zadukor” (The Geometric Wizard) is among four stories in the running for the regional winner from Asia.
The winners will be announced in the last week of June, the Commonwealth Foundation said in a statement.
Imran’s story, written in Bangla, has been translated into English by Arunava Sinha.
A total of 24 stories were selected from among 5,182 entries from 48 countries.
Award-winning novelist and short story writer Sarah Hall, the chair of the judges, said the “versatility and power of the short story is abundantly clear in this shortlist.”
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction in English from the Commonwealth countries.
As well as being open to entries translated into English from any language, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize is the only literary prize where entries can be submitted in Bangla, Chinese, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, and Tamil.
Imran’s is the only translated story to make it to the shortlist this year.
The story depicts the pathos of the partition of Bengal in 1947 which left a deep wound in the hearts of the Bangalis. It shows how an artist, separated from his wife because of partition, revolts artistically against the political business, the capital of which is religion.
Imran, born in Bagerhat, graduated from the Department of English at Jahangirnagar University. He writes about contemporary society and its relationship with history.
