Sonia Nishat Amin receives �Ananya Literary Award�

award

Researcher and writer Dr Sonia Nishat Amin received this year’s ‘Ananya Sahitya Puraskar’ (Ananya Literary Award) which has been conferred for the Bangla Year 1422. Eminent novelist Selina Hossain handed over the crest, along with a cheque worth TK 50,000 and certificates to Nishat at the award-giving ceremony, held at Chhayanaut auditorium in the city’s Dhanmondi area on Saturday. Presided over by Ananya Editor Tasmima Hossain, Professor Dr. Syed Anwar Hossain, Department of History, University of Dhaka was present as special guest at the event.
After receiving the award, Dr Sonia expressed her feelings, “Today I am feeling immense pride and great joy, because after 25 long years, I have got the formal recognition for my research. I am also feeling quite honoured and humble because my name has been mentioned alongside the excellent researchers who received the award earlier. I never thought about any award while doing my research; rather I have worked from my own responsibilities and duties.”  
In her comment she mentioned that the contribution of women to society has been ignored for decades. She said, “Women had been kept away from creative works.” Novelist Selina Hossain in her speech said about Sonia Nishat’s writing, “The researcher-writer has properly upheld the history of women in her literary works.”
After the award giving ceremony, a cultural programme was held, where popular singer Mehreen rendered Rabindra Sangeet and Chandana Majumder performed Lalon Geeti. Besides, recitation artiste Tamanna Daisy took part in the event.
Sonia Nishat Amin completed her MA in History from Dhaka University. Then, she admitted herself into Cambridge University in UK and completed MA in sociology. She has been researching on social history of 19th and 20th century for the last few decades. More than thirty books have been published at home and abroad as a part of her research. She obtained a PhD from Dhaka University for researching on ‘The World of Muslim Women in Colonial Bengal 1876-1939’.  In her research, she depicted the process by which the women became modern and independent for last 60 years. She has published extensively on women’s history in Bengal and contributed to various anthologies on women, including ‘From the Seams of History’ (1995) and ‘Mind, Body and Society in Colonial Bengal’ (1996).
Earlier, Sonia Nishat Amin received the ‘Atowar Hossain Gold Medal’ from the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh for research and publications on women’s issues.
From 1401 Bengali Year (1993), Ananya, a fortnightly magazine for women, introduced the award to a woman-litterateur, or litterateur-researcher for contributions in the field of literature. 11 noted litterateurs received the awards in the previous years including — Selina Hossain, Rizia Rahman, Dr. Nilima Ibrahim, Dilara Hashem, Rabeya Khatun, and Shaheed Janani Jahanara Imam (posthumous), among others. l

Sonia Nishat Amin receives �Ananya Literary Award�

award

Researcher and writer Dr Sonia Nishat Amin received this years Ananya Sahitya Puraskar (Ananya Literary Award) which has been conferred for the Bangla Year 1422. Eminent novelist Selina Hossain handed over the crest, along with a cheque worth TK 50,000 and certificates to Nishat at the award-giving ceremony, held at Chhayanaut auditorium in the citys Dhanmondi area on Saturday. Presided over by Ananya Editor Tasmima Hossain, Professor Dr. Syed Anwar Hossain, Department of History, University of Dhaka was present as special guest at the event. After receiving the award, Dr Sonia expressed her feelings, Today I am feeling immense pride and great joy, because after 25 long years, I have got the formal recognition for my research. I am also feeling quite honoured and humble because my name has been mentioned alongside the excellent researchers who received the award earlier. I never thought about any award while doing my research; rather I have worked from my own responsibilities and duties. In her comment she mentioned that the contribution of women to society has been ignored for decades. She said, Women had been kept away from creative works. Novelist Selina Hossain in her speech said about Sonia Nishats writing, The researcher-writer has properly upheld the history of women in her literary works. After the award giving ceremony, a cultural programme was held, where popular singer Mehreen rendered Rabindra Sangeet and Chandana Majumder performed Lalon Geeti. Besides, recitation artiste Tamanna Daisy took part in the event. Sonia Nishat Amin completed her MA in History from Dhaka University. Then, she admitted herself into Cambridge University in UK and completed MA in sociology. She has been researching on social history of 19th and 20th century for the last few decades. More than thirty books have been published at home and abroad as a part of her research. She obtained a PhD from Dhaka University for researching on The World of Muslim Women in Colonial Bengal 1876-1939. In her research, she depicted the process by which the women became modern and independent for last 60 years. She has published extensively on womens history in Bengal and contributed to various anthologies on women, including From the Seams of History (1995) and Mind, Body and Society in Colonial Bengal (1996). Earlier, Sonia Nishat Amin received the Atowar Hossain Gold Medal from the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh for research and publications on womens issues. From 1401 Bengali Year (1993), Ananya, a fortnightly magazine for women, introduced the award to a woman-litterateur, or litterateur-researcher for contributions in the field of literature. 11 noted litterateurs received the awards in the previous years including Selina Hossain, Rizia Rahman, Dr. Nilima Ibrahim, Dilara Hashem, Rabeya Khatun, and Shaheed Janani Jahanara Imam (posthumous), among others. l