Gantha honours writers. . .
Gantha, a non-formal organization of female writers writing both in English and Bangla, held a reception to honour two of its very own writers, Selina Hossain and Saleha Choudhury. Selina Hossain was awarded the Shuroma Choudhury memorial award, worth ten lakh rupees, in Kolkata this year, while Saleha Chowdhury received the Bangla Academy Probashi Lekhok Puroskar, worth fifty thousand taka. Among numerous other awards, Selina Hossain got the Bangla Academy Prize in 1980, Ekushey Padak in 2009, Ram Krishna Joydoyal Harmony award in 2006, the last being a renowned prize in South East Asia. Bishwa Bharati University has honoured her with a D.Lit degree. Besides Dhaka University, her books are taught in different courses at Rabindra Bharati University, Jadavpur University and Assam University. Saleha Choudhury has written about 60 books. She is a translator, short story writer and poet. She has been living in the United Kingdom for the past forty years. Among the awards coming her way have been the Ananna Puroskar and Bangladesh Lekhika Shongho Puroskar, an award from the Writers' Foundation. Her poetry earned her the Merit award and runners-up award in the UK. The Gantha event took place at the Prothom Alo conference hall on 1 October. One of the members of the organization, Nurun Akhter, read from Gayatri Shondha. The author noted that it was a trilogy compiled in one book and described events from 1947 till 1975. Another member, Monica Chakrabarti, discussed Thabija's Father, a novel by Saleha Chowdhury, where the writer tells the tale of the gold widows of Nigeria. Among others Papree Rahman and Anwara Azad discussed Selina Hossain and Saleha Chowdhury's lives and works. Eminent scholar Maleka Begum, Farida Majid, Dil Monowara Monu, Jharna Rahman, Junan Nashit, Farha Diba and Jackie Kabir were present at the occasion.
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