Farida Hossain

Farida Hossain (born 19 January 1945) is a Bangladeshi writer, playwright, editor, director, and translator.[1]

Hossain was born on 19 January 1945, in Kolkata, India, one of five siblings.[1] Her father was a lawyer who worked with the International Labour Organization.[2] She later moved with her family to Bangladesh, living in Chittagong, then Narayanganj, and finally settling in Dhaka.[2]

She began her career as a writer with a stage adaptation of Snow White in the Bangla language, which received a local award.[1] Following this she was invited to work with Radio Pakistan, where she wrote, and performed stories, poems, and plays written by herself and others.[1] While continuing to perform and write for radio, she published over 60 books during her career, including translations, novels, poetry, and plays.[1]

She also wrote and directed several short films for children, which were broadcast in Bangladesh.[2]

In 2004, she won the Ekushey Padak, Bangladesh's second highest civilian honor, for her contributions to literature.[3] She served as the president of the PEN Bangladesh Centre from 2003 and 2018.[4][5] She married Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, with whom she had several children.[2] She also founded a charitable organisation, Anjum Shishu Kollayan (Children's Welfare Foundation), and a literary magazine, Obinosshor.[6]