Hasnat Abdul Hye (born 19 May 1937) is a Bangladeshi writer and novelist. He was awarded

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak ( bn, একুশে পদক; lit. "Twentyfirst Award") is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contribut ...

by the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

in 1994. As of 2017, he has 70 published works in both Bengali and English.

Early life and education

Hye was born in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in 1937. His hometown is Sayedabad village, Kasba, BrahmanBaria. He studied economics at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

, the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

and development studies at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Career

Hye taught economics at the University of Dhaka for two years before joining the Civil Service of Pakistan in 1965. He retired as a full Secretary of the Bangladesh Government in 2000.

Works

Hye wrote his first short story ''Carnival'' in 1960. His first travelogue is titled ''Manhattan and Ten Dollars.'' In 1995, he wrote ''Novera'', a novel based on the life story of the sculptor

Novera Ahmed Novera Ahmed (29 March 1939 – 6 May 2015) was a modern sculptor of Bangladesh. She was awarded Ekushey Padak by the Government of Bangladesh in 1997. Artist Zainul Abedin described her work saying "What Novera is doing now will take us a long ...

. In 2017, the book was adapted to a stage monodrama, acted by Samiun Jahan Dola. In 2008, he published ''Boyhood in British India and Pakistan'', a collection of autobiographical columns that appeared in ''Daily News'' under the banner ''Aide Memoire.'' This covers a period from 1943 to 1954.

''TV Camerar Samne Meyeti''

On 14 April 2013, Hye published a short story, titled ''TV Camerar Samne Meyeti'' (The Girl In Front Of The TV Camera) on the daily newspaper ''

Prothom Alo ''The Daily Prothom Alo'' ( bn, প্রথম আলো) is a daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka in the Bengali language. It is the largest circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. According to National Media Survey 2018, conducte ...

''. The store centers around a politically active girl ''Seema'' leading the slogan shouting brigade who is sexually exploited by a senior politician, the man who recruits her. The story suggested her popularity stemmed from her sexual free-mixing with males. The publication angered readers and amid protests ''Prothom Alo'' issued an apology and retracted the story. Few days later, M Wahiduzzaman, a professor at the University of Dhaka, filed a petition with the High Court as a public interest litigation saying the story written by Hye "is provocative and insulting to the women of the society". The High Court later rejected the writ petition.

Books

Awards

Bangla Academy Literary Award The Bangla Academy Literary Award ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি সাহিত্য পুরস্কার; ''Bangla Academy Shahitya Puroshkar''), is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius i ...

(1977) *Alakta literary Prize (1993) *

(1994) *Jagadish Chandra Basu Prize (1995) *Sher-e-Bangla Prize (1995) *S.M. Sultan Prize (1995) *Shilpacharya Zainul Prize (1996)

Personal life

Hye was married to Nasreen Hye (d. 2012). Together they had a son and a daughter.