Rizia Rahman’s oeuvre cuts across all genres. In her five-decade-long literary career, starting from the 1960s, she has authored over 30 novels, more than five short story collections, three memoirs, three children’s books and one book on humor, essay collection and poetry respectively. It should be noted that the list given below does not provide readers with a complete list of her fictional and nonfictional works; it gives readers a list of her major works and an idea of the breadth of her literary career.
Novels
Ghar-Bhanga-Ghar (Broken-house, 1974)
Uttar Purush (Posterity, 1977)
Rokter Okkhor (Letters of Blood, 1978)
Bong Theke Bangla (From Bong to Bangla, 1978)
Alikhito Upakkhyan (An Unwritten Story, 1980)
Shhilay Shilay Agun (Stones on Fire, 1980)
Aranyer Kache (Near the Forest, 1980)
Dhabal Jyotsna (White Moonlight, 1981)
Surja Sabuj Rokto (Sun Green Blood, 1981)
Ekal Chirokal (Now and Eternity, 1984)
Prem Amar Prem (Love, My Love, 1985)
Sobuj Pahar (Green Hill, 1985)
Jharer Mukhomukhi (Facing the Storm, 1986)
Ekti Phuler Janya (For a Flower, 1986)
Shudhu Tomader Janya (Only for You, 1988)
He Manab Manabi (Oh! Man and Woman, 1989)
Harun Phereni (Harun did not Return, 1994)
Baghbondi (Trapped, 2006)
Abe-Raowa (2006)
Shuprobhat Shonali Din (Good Morning Golden Days, 2006)
Otolanto Neel (Fathomless Blues, 2006)
Ondhokare Beethoven (Beethoven in the Dark, 2006)
Uttshey Phera (Return to the Origin, 2009)
Alburuzer Baz (The Thunder of Alburuz, 2010)
Pobitro Narira (The Sacred Women, 2010)
Sita Pahare Agun (Fire on the Sita Hill, 2010)
Nisshobdo Shobdeyr Khonje (In Search for Silent Words)
Trinobhumir Bison (The Bison of the Meadow, 2006)
Projapoti Nibondhon (The Registration of the Butterfly)
Chondrahoto (Struck by Moon)
Bandhobi O Onnanyo (Friend and Others, 2012)
Kachei Sagor (The Ocean is Near)
Bandhobi Priodorshini (Graceful Friend)
Jogot Juria Kande
Short story collections
Ogniswakkhora (The One who Signed with Fire, 1967)
Nirbachito Golpo (Selected Stories, 1978)
Char Doshoker Golpo (Stories of Four Decades, 2011)
Dure Kothao (Somewhere Far Away, 2004)
Prio Golpo (Favorite Stories)
Bhalobasa Dao (Give Me Love)
Caged in Paradise and Other Stories (2010)
Memoirs
Abhibasi Ami (The Immigrant Me)
Nadi Nirabadhi (Rivers Forever, 2011)
Prachin Nogorite Jatra (A Trip to an Ancient City)
Humor
Khaoa-khaoir Bangali
Children’s Books
Ajab Ghorir Deshe (In the Land of Mysterious Watches, 2011)
Jhilimili Tara (The Sparkling Stars)
Motishiler Bari O Onnanya Galpo (The House of Motishil and Other Stories)
Essay:
Amar Bhabona (My Thoughts)
Poetry:
Ondho Proja (The Blind Mass)
Translation:
Shonali Gorad (1995)
Blurbs:
Novels
Bong Theke Bangla (Bengali to Bangla, 1978)
Rizia Rahman’s magnum opus based on the evolution of Bangladesh as a nation and Bangla as a language. Starting with the Bong tribe that existed two and a half thousand years ago, it travels to the 1970s Bangladesh. This novel traces the lives of the marginalized and the oppressed.
Shilay Shilay Agun (Stones in Fire, 1980)
Set in the 1958 insurgency in Balochistan, Shilay Shilay Agun tells the story of the people of Balochistan, their pride about their culture and their plight for freedom. Deprived of their socio-political rights, Lalu stands against the powerful segment of the Punjabi ruling clique.
Ghar-Bhanga-Ghar (Broken-house, 1984)
First published in 1974, this novel tells the story of the people who became homeless by natural calamities like river erosion and then move to the city and become slum-dwellers. To write the book Rizia Rahman witnessed their lives up close and heard stories about their afflictions, dreams and the anguish of broken-dreams that reverberate through their broken houses.
Ekal Chirokal (Now and Eternity, 1984)
An epic novel about the upheaval of the indigenous Santal people who have been living in northern Bangladesh. It is about their prolonged history and sketches their joy, grief, anticipations, religious beliefs, superstitions and their suffering. It shows us what happens when the indigenous people meet the modern civilization.
Rizia Rahman’s works in translation:
Caged in Paradise and Other Stories (2010)
Translated from Bengali, edited by Niaz Zaman and Shirin Hasnat Islam, the stories in this anthology have been carefully selected. The stories have been arranged chronologically to suggest the development of the writer over the years. They cover a wide range of themes—from lives of the rural people to the urbanites, from historical events to contemporary situations, from feminist to humanist issues, from familial to social concerns, from demographic to ecological changes.
Letters of Blood—a novel (2016)
Translated by Arunava Sinha from Rokter Okkhor (1978), this novel is set in the violent world of prostitution. With great sensitivity and insight, it chronicles the lives of women trapped within this bleak world, constantly facing threats of physical abuse, drug addiction, pregnancy, abortion and disease. And while many dream of escaping through marriage or retirement, most find relief only in death.
