Shahaduz Zaman


Shahaduz Zaman is a writer in Bengali literature. He is a medical anthropologist and a trained physician. He published over 30 books in different genres such as short stories, novels, travelogues, columns, and essays on contemporary issues. He won the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2016 in the fiction category.

Education and professional life

Shahaduz Zaman was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and lived in different parts of the country. He attended Mirzapur Cadet College for his high school studies. He studied medicine at Chittagong Medical College. Later on he studied public health and obtained a doctorate in medical anthropology from the University of Amsterdam. Currently he works at the medical school of the University of Sussex. Besides his literary work, he has numerous academic publications.

Literary works and style

Among his most important books are Crutch-er Colonel, "Poshchimer Meghe Shonar Shingho", "Koyekti Bihbol Golpo", "Kotha-Porompora", "Ekti Haspatal, Ekjon Nri-biggani O Koekti Bhanga Har", and "Bishorgo-te Dukkho".
Shahaduz Zaman is noted for his experimentation with short stories and a distinct style of prose writing. He combines elements of modern-day story telling with sharp observations of our society. In several of his biographical fictions such as "Ekjon Komolalebu" and "Crutch-er Colonel", he combined imagination with historical facts and analysis, and thus breaking away from the rigid definition of a novel. His book "Bishorgo-te Dukkho" has been considered a meta-fiction, one of the very first of this genre in Bengali. The book "Kotha-Porompora" which is a set of interviews of prominent writers, artists and thinkers is considered one of the best book of interviews in Bengali. Besides short stories and fiction, he is well regarded for his columns, essays, and film criticism.
Several of his stories and books have been made into films and stage dramas. A movie called Komola Rocket was based on two of his short stories, and furthermore, he wrote the screenplay for the movie. A stage drama based on Crutch-er Colonel had many shows throughout Bangladesh, and has been popular with both spectators and critics. Several short films have been made from his stories as well.
"Ibrahim Buksh's Circus and Other Stories" is an anthology of some of his stories in English. His thesis "Broken Limbs, Broken Lives: Ethnography of a Hospital Ward in Bangladesh" is a medical anthropology work in the context of Bangladesh. He wrote a critically acclaimed popular book based on this - "Ekti Haspatal, Ekjon Nri-biggani O Koekti Bhanga Har".

Selected books

Short stories