Neamat Imam | |
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| Born | (1971-01-05)5 January 1971 (age 54) Chandpur,East Pakistan |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi-Canadian |
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| Education | PhD in Theatre Studies |
| Alma mater | Dhaka University Aristotle University |
| Period | 1995–present |
| Genre | Drama, historical fiction, short fiction, novel |
| Notable works | The Black Coat |
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| neamatimam | |
Neamat Imam (Bengali:নেয়ামত ইমাম; born 5 January 1971) is a Bangladeshi-Canadian author ofliterary fiction. His first novel,The Black Coat, aQuill & Quire Book of the Year 2016,[1] was published by Penguin Books India from itsHamish Hamilton imprint in 2013.[2] It is considered the "gold standard for any book which seeks to engage with South Asian politics or history" and a "future classic."[3] He has also authored 2 plays, 2 novellas, and a collection of poetry inBengali language.[4]
Imam was born in a small agricultural village under thedistrict of Chandpur in Bangladesh. It was a village which had no school, no shops, post-office, mosque and no electricity, for which his lessons in alphabet began in the light of a lantern. His father was an elementary schoolteacher and his mother a housewife. He lost his mother when he was 8 and his father when he was 15.[5] Third among four children of his parents, he was raised by his elder brother and elder sister who were senior to him only by a few years. He first saw a newspaper that his brother brought from his office when he was 13[6] and sat before a TV set for the first time when he was 14.[7]
In the first major book review forOutlook India, Indian author Indrajit Hazra calledThe Black Coat "an extraordinary book ... a fine work of fiction." In his review, entitled "Father And Sons, Or The Lie of the Land," Hazra added, "Very few novels examine a period in history so convincingly even as it turns away from the standard style of historical fiction. Imam does this in this hyper-realistic tale of fools, thugs, dangerous idealism and sanctified pretence, reminding us who have forgotten a secret function of the novel: to unsettle us, instead of just be moving."[8]
Mint, India's business newspaper, called the book "a powerful fictional revisiting of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s troubled legacy in Bangladesh." Reviewer Arunava Sinha went on to say, "Rich with political statements, this is a novel that achieves its intent in a remarkably creative and artistic manner."[9]
It was also reviewed byDeccan Herald,Financial Express,Daily Star,Asian Review of Books,Sunday Guardian,Business Standard andMail Today. All the journals hugely praised the novel.Asian Review of Books wrote: "Neamat Imam’s first novel,The Black Coat, is pure satire, written with such disarming earnestness that one might neglect to shake it down and dissect its numerous layers".[10]Financial Express commented that it was "one of the best (novels) to come out of the subcontinent in the recent past".[11]
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