Shahidun Nessa Rahman ( bn, শহীদুন নেসসা রহমান; née Karim bn, করিম; born 14 December 1971), commonly known by her pseudonym Shahida Rahman, is an English author, writer and publisher. She is best known as the author of ''

Lascar A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland, or other land east of the Cape of Good Hope, who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the middle of t ...

''.

Early life

Rahman was born in Mill Road Maternity Hospital,

Mill Road, Cambridge Mill Road is a street in southeast Cambridge, England. It runs southeast from near to Parker's Piece, at the junction with Gonville Place, East Road, and Parkside. It crosses the main railway line and links to the city's ring road (the A1134 ...

, and brought up in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

, Cambridgeshire, England. She is of

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

descent and both her parents are from

Fenchuganj Fenchuganj ( bn, ফেঞ্চুগঞ্জ) is an upazila of Sylhet District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Etymology There are many theories behind the naming of the upazila. Some say that Fenchuganj is named after Penchu (or Fenchui ...

Sylhet District Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...

. Her late father, Abdul Karim, was orphaned at a young age and moved to Cambridge from

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

(now

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

) in 1957 and her mother, Fultera Banoo Karim, arrived in 1963. Rahman has two older brothers, and her father was a

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

Writing career

Rahman writes historical fiction, non-fiction and short stories. Since 2003, Rahman has been a freelance writer. In April 2005, she launched Perfect Publishers Ltd, a print-on-demand book publishing company providing a range of services for authors and other publishers. In June 2012, her first historical novel ''

'' was published by Indigo Dreams Publishing. ''Lascar'' was inspired by stories passed down orally through the generations about one of her paternal ancestors who one of the early

lascar A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland, or other land east of the Cape of Good Hope, who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the middle of t ...

s (sailor/seaman from East India) to work aboard the British steamships of the 19th century. It was shortlisted for the

Muslim Writers Awards Muslim Writers Awards is an annual British award ceremony, which aims to recognise, showcase and celebrate literary talent within the UK's Muslim community. It was established in 2006, with the Young Muslim Award category established in 2010. N ...

, Unpublished Novel Award in 2008 and longlisted for the Brit Writers Unpublished Award in 2010. In 2009, she was commissioned to write a radio play for the Lascar Heritage Project for Silsila Productions which aired in 2011. In 2010, she co-wrote the screenplay ''India Ink'' with American screenwriter Halle Eavelyn which was based on Rahman's short story ''Homecoming''. In 2011, ''India Ink'' was shortlisted for the

Circalit Circalit is an online community for writers, screenwriters, agents and producers. It mediates between industry professionals and individuals, and also provides a forum for writers to discuss each other's work. It was " beled as the first ever socia ...

First Draft Contest and reached the finals of the WriteMovies International Writing Contest. She wrote ''The Integration of the Hijab into Police Uniforms'' which was published in the ''Behind the Hijab'' anthology, in March 2009 by Monsoon Press. Other works of Rahman include: ''The Integration of the Hijab into Police Uniforms'', ''The Lascar'' (radio play), and short stories and articles: ''Currying Favour'', ''Backbone of the Fleet'', ''The Life of Lascars Aboard Merchant Ships'', ''Cambridge's first Gurdwara'', ''Bangladeshis Trade Curry for College and Taxis'', ''Baishaki Mela'', ''Asian Women Suffragettes in the 1900s'', ''Travel with Kids'', ''The Middle Child Syndrome'' and ''Noor Inayat Khan''. Rahman has contributed to and been published in the ''Best of British'', ''The Great War'' and ''SISTERS'' magazines, ''Asian World Newspaper'', ''Children of the New Earth'', ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' and

BBC Radio Cambridgeshire BBC Radio Cambridgeshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Cambridgeshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at the Cambridge Business Park on Cowley Road in Cambridge. According to ...

. She was a columnist at ''Weekly Desh newspaper''. Rahman is currently working on her second historical novel about an Indian Ayah. Since 2014, she has been on the judging panel of the Young Muslim Writers Awards. Rahman is the former presenter of 'Book Reviews' at online TV channel LB24tv.

Political career

In May 2015, Rahman was a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Li ...

council candidate for East Chesterton ward in the Cambridge City Council election prior to the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. She received 1,165 votes and lost to the Labour Party candidate who had 1,630 votes. In May 2016, Rahman was a Liberal Democrat prospective councillor candidate for East Chesterton ward for the second time in the Cambridge City Council election. She received 906 votes, a swing of 6% of votes compared to 2015. She lost to the Labour Party candidate who had 1,103 votes.

Awards and nominations

In April 2013, Rahman was awarded a

Channel S Channel S is a UK-based, free-to-air television channel targeting the British Bangladeshi community. The channel was established on 16 December 2004 by Mahee Ferdous Jalil, a Bangladeshi businessman in London. On Sky it at first had a timesha ...

'Special Acknowledgement Award' for her work drawing attention to the forgotten Bangladeshi cultural history and heritage. In January 2015, she was awarded the Arts and Culture Awareness award at the

British Muslim Awards The British Muslim Awards are an annual award ceremony that honours the success and achievements of British Muslim individuals, groups and businesses. It was established in 2013. Overview The British Muslim Awards was founded by Oceanic Consult ...

Personal life

In 1990, at the age of 18, Rahman got married. She has three sons Ibrahim, Imran, Aniq and a daughter, Aminah.

Novels

References

External links

* *
Shahida Rahman
on ''

'' * Vajpeyi, Yogesh
Subject of lascars is under-represented in the UK’
''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Limited, Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, ...

''. 24 March 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Shahida 1971 births Living people English Sunni Muslims English people of Bangladeshi descent English historical novelists English women novelists English literary historians Women historical novelists English columnists American women columnists English screenwriters Muslim writers British Asian writers 21st-century English writers 21st-century English women writers Liberal Democrats (UK) politicians English women in politics British politicians of Bangladeshi descent HuffPost writers and columnists People from Cambridge English women non-fiction writers Women literary historians British women historians People from Fenchuganj Upazila Bangladeshi Muslims 21st-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis 21st-century American women Pseudonymous women writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers