Coming from an ordinary middle class family and spending his childhood in Bhairab, his hometown, Din M Sumon Rahman thought he was destined to become a businessman like his father. He studied in a local school there and led quite an ordinary life until he came across 'Khela Ghor'- a center for the practice of extra-curricular activities.
“I used to go to their library and read as much as I possibly could. I immersed myself in books about politics, history, fiction, science fiction- whatever I had come across,” says Sumon. He also began writing then and wrote for some newspapers and other magazines.
In the year 1967, he joined Jahangir Nagar University and was influenced by some professors to join the Philosophy department because, to them, he clearly had the knack. He then joined BRAC University in the pursuit of a Master's Degree in Development, after which he decided to get enrolled into the National University of Singapore (NUS) for a PhD in Urban Poverty. In the journey of pursuing his doctorate on the subject, he came across music as a part of urban poverty and his interest then diverged. He then decided to change his PhD thesis' topic to Cultural Studies. Due to this sudden change, he had to leave NUS and move to the University of Queensland, Australia, to continue and move his thesis further. “I didn't expect them to accept me in their university because barely any university accepts students who have already finished their thesis half way. But Graem Turner, professor of Cultural Studies in the university, had accepted me because he had faced similar problems with his thesis. He was of great help and had inspired me a lot with my work,” says Sumon.
In the year 2005, he published his first book, which was an Anthology, called 'Dekha, Nah Dekhar Chokh' which ended up in the list of Best Sellers of that year's Ekushey Boi Mela. In 2008, he compiled seven short stories written by him in a book called 'Goribi Aumorota' and had it published. In the same year, he wrote and published a poetry book called 'Ceramic er Nijersho Jhogra'. And lastly, in 2011, he wrote and published a book called 'Kanaar Haat Bazaar', which revolved around the subjects he mastered in throughout his academic years- cultural studies and pop culture.
In 2013, Sumon joined University of Liberal Arta, Bangladesh (ULAB) as Associate Professor, Department of Media Studies and Journalism. “Being a part of ULAB has given me a lot of benefits. The university funds researches and that has come very much in handy for me as I have always had a passion for researching and writing based on what I research,” says Sumon. His next great agenda is to write a novel. “This time, I'm moving away from the academics and indulging into my creativity,” exclaims Sumon. With 20 years of experience in mostly academic writing, Sumon finds it both exciting and unnerving to step into the realm of creativity. As for us, we just have to wait a little longer for another great Sumon Rahman masterpiece!