Bangladeshi Novelist Shahin Akhtar Wins 3rd Asia Literary Award

Bangladeshi novelist Shahin Akhtar, recipient of the 3rd Asia Literature Award

[Photo by National Asia Culture Center]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Bangladeshi novelist Shahin Akhtar was selected as the winner of the 3rd Asia Literature Award, the National Asia Culture Center and the Asia Literature Festival Organizing Committee announced on the 2nd.

Akhtar was chosen as the winner at the closing ceremony of the 3rd Asia Literature Festival, which concluded the previous day at the Gwangju Asia Culture Center. The winning work is "There Is No Country for Women." "There Is No Country for Women" deals with the lives of women who suffered sexual violence during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, and is a feminist war documentary novel vividly reflecting the voices of Asian women.

The judging panel described "There Is No Country for Women" as "the best feminist war documentary novel of our time, vividly reflecting the voices of Asian women."

Akhtar debuted as a novelist in 2000 and has focused on women's issues in Bangladesh. While working with human rights organizations, she heard and documented the stories of women who were sexually assaulted by the Pakistani army during the Bangladesh Liberation War, and decided to raise awareness of these issues through literary works. Her major works include "No Place to Run" and "The Peacock Prince." In her acceptance speech delivered online, she said, "I sincerely hope that we endure the global crisis and creatively overcome it to become stronger and wiser people."

The National Asia Culture Center plans to create and produce the winning work "There Is No Country for Women" in various artistic genres such as performances, exhibitions, and documentaries.

The Asia Literature Festival, which opened on the 29th of last month, was held over four days until the previous day under the theme "Asia's Month: 100 Years of Asian Literature - Myth and Women," with participation from over 30 Asian writers from 11 countries. Various events such as meetings with authors, literary forums, and cross-language poetry readings were held, and the festival concluded with the announcement of the authors' declaration on the final day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.