Source: Prabir Das

Farah Ghuznavi has been writing for most of her life. During her childhood and youth, she explored satirical play writing and poetry and as an adult she wrote opinion pieces and newspaper articles on politics, humour, travel and social issues. “I'm a Bangla-medium product, very much 'made in Bangladesh!'” she says. “Growing up in a family where social issues were often discussed, I decided to study development economics. I had always wanted to be a writer, but didn't think I was good enough. When I finally ventured into fiction, I found that my development experiences strongly influence my writing.”
In the development field, she worked for the British NGO Christian Aid, Grameen Bank and the United Nations. Her career as a fiction writer began much later, “I read a newspaper headline about an employer who killed a child domestic worker, and it made me so angry that I sat down and wrote my first story,” shares the writer.
Farah Ghuznavi's stories are mostly inspired by her life experiences, “Anything and everything inspires me, really,” she says. “Memories, experiences, or something I witness on the streets. I'm inspired by the desire to tell the stories of those whose voices are less often heard. I also want to provide a more accurate picture of contemporary Bangladesh than the tired, negative stereotypes prevalent in the international media.”

Source: Courtesy

Farah's written work has been published in the UK, US, Canada, Singapore, India, Nepal and ofcourse Bangladesh. When asked which of her stories is her favourite, she says, “That's like being asked to pick favourites among your children! 'Getting There', which appears in my short story collection 'Fragments of Riversong' (Daily Star Books) is a story I like, because it has universal elements (family conflict, misunderstandings, regret and redemption), despite being firmly set in modern-day Bangladesh.”
Farah has received several awards for her written work, “Having my story “Judgement Day” awarded in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition 2010 was amazing, as was receiving a wonderfully encouraging note from the judge after “Getting There” placed second in the Oxford University GEF Competition,” she shares. “The nine posts I produced as Writer in Residence for Commonwealth Writers also constituted a very personal journey.”
Her writing to her is intensely personal, “Though that doesn't mean it's autobiographical,” Farah says. “What you write says something about who you are, how you view the world, and what's important to you.” Farah has just recorded a personal essay for BBC Radio 3, “And I'm finalising a second short story collection,” she tells us. “I generally prefer to let creative initiatives develop organically, though discipline is important!”