Abdul Rasheed (born 1965) is an Indian writer, poet, editor and translator from Karnataka. In 2004 he won Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award for lifetime achievement. He also a translator, blogger, columnist and radio personality.

Early life and education

Abdul Rasheed was born on 28 February 1965 at

Suntikoppa Suntikoppa is one of the village panchayats(equalent of the word Town in English) of Kodagu district, Karnataka state, India. Location The geographical coordinates of Suntikopa are 12° 28' 0" North, 75° 50' 0" East. It is a town between ...

Coorg Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupies ...

in Karnataka and spent his childhood in Kodagu district. He obtained his bachelor's degree in journalism from Maharaja's College, Mysore and master's degree in English literature from

University of Mysore The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. The university is recognised by the University Grants Commissio ...

Professional career

Rasheed works with

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

as a program officer. Currently he is Program Director with Mysuru Akashavani He is the editor of online magazines "Kendasampige" and "Mysorepost" which are widely read by Kannada public. He has written the life stories of celebrated Kannada artists like Vidyabhusana in his blogs.

Literary works

Rasheed has published two novels, four books of short stories, four books of creative essays and two anthologies of poetry. His popular stories include "Kirti Patake" (Red Flag) and "Hoovinakolli" His first novel ‘’Hoovinakolli’’ was published online before paperback was released in 2011. He has also translated the works of

Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century ...

Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His works ...

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...

and

Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recog ...

. Rasheed's works are difficult to classify and he is known as a genre bender weaving together prose, poetry, journalism and biography. His works have been translated into English, German, Swedish and Hindi. His poetry collections include ‘’"Nanna Paadige Nanu"’’ and ‘’"Narakada Kennaligeyantha Ninna Benna Huri"’’ Abdul Rasheed is often called Kannada's Basheer because of comparison of his fiction works with that of celebrated Malayalam writer

Vaikom Muhammed Basheer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (21 January 1908 – 5 July 1994), popularly referred to as Beypore Sulthan, was a writer of Malayalam literature. He was a writer, humanist, freedom fighter, novelist and short story writer, noted for his path-breaking, ...

Other contributions

Rasheed writes columns for Kannada newspapers like

Vijaya Karnataka ''Vijaya Karnataka'' is a Kannada newspaper published from a number of cities in Karnataka. The newspaper is published from Bengaluru, Hubballi, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi, Gangavathi, Belagavi, Davanagere, Hassan, Chitradurga. It wa ...

. He is a modern pioneer in Kannada column writing. He is a regular speaker at various national and state-level literary festivals including Bangalore Literature Festival, Mysore Literature Festival and Kerala Literature Festival. He has served as a jury for various literary awards including TOTO Funds Arts (TFA) awards. He is the founder editor of ''Kendasampige'' Blogging Website, which metamorphosed into the publishing house Kendasampige Prakashana. Rasheed has been a delegate of Sahitya Akademi to various countries including Sweden and Syria under cultural exchange program. He has addressed seminar of

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU or APBU), formed in 1964, is a non-profit, professional association of broadcasting organisations. It currently has over 287 members in 57 countries and regions, reaching a potential audience of about 3 bil ...

. He has also collaborated in international literary translation projects.

Opinion and criticism

Rasheed feels that the new generation of writers are not bothered about imagery or technique, but rather focused on first hand narratives. Rasheed has been vocally critical of

Hindutva terror Hindu terrorism, sometimes called Hindutva terror or, metonymically, saffron terror, comprises terrorist acts carried out on the basis of motivations in broad association with Hinduism. Such acts have principally been perpetrated by members, ...

and religious fundamentalism in contemporary literature. He is also vocal about conservation of tribal language and culture.

Awards and recognition

Rasheed's award-winning works include four anthologies of short stories ''Pranapakshi'', ''Hallu Kuliga Huduga'', ''Sampoorna Parijata'' and ''Eethanakada Kethegalu''. His works were recognised by Sahitya Akademi which conferred on him its golden jubilee prize in 2004. He also won Karnataka Sahitya Academy award for his book ''Haalu Kudiga Huduga''. Besides he has won numerous other literary awards including Sandesha Award for journalism and

Kempegowda Award The Kempegowda Award or Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Award is a civilian award presented annually by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The award nomination is based on the notable contributions of civilians, in th ...

for contribution to Kannada literature.

Bibliography

Books in English

* *

Books in Kannada

* * * * * * * * * *

Journal articles

* * * *

Translations

*''Lord Cornwallis and Queen Elizabeth'' (2021), Akshara Prakashana

References

External links

Interview with Abdul Rasheed – Times of India dated 17 October 2019U. R. Ananthamurthy and Abdul RashidMysore Post Blog by Abdul Rasheed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasheed, Abdul Poets from Karnataka Kannada-language writers Indian male writers University of Mysore alumni Writers from Mysore People from Kodagu district Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada Maharaja's College, Mysore alumni Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award 1965 births Living people Kannada people