Publisher with panache

Mohammad Shahadat Hossain is one of the key figures in the country's publishing scene and has put in much effort to boost the industry. Proprietor of Annesha Prokashan, Shahadat has been in the industry for over a decade. He has brought out more than 600 books in this period.

Under the banner of his publishing house, over 60 books -- on children, research and Liberation War; and prose, essays, novels and many more are being published at this year's Ekushey Book Fair.

In its long career span, Annesha has brought out books of many noted writers like Hasan Azizul Haque, Sarder Fazlul Karim, Syed Shamsul Haq, Selina Hossain, Anisul Hoque and Humayun Ahmed. Of them, Humayun Ahmed's bestselling novel “Rupa” and 23 other books have been published by the publishing house.

This year, the publication house will bring out a book on the Language Movement penned by Dr Sheikh Mehedi Hasan. Apart from this, it will publish the books of Shamsuzzaman Khan, director general of Bangla Academy, Anisul Hoque, Taslima Nasrin and other noted writers from the country.

Photo: Star

On the book fair, Shahadat said, “I believe we will see a good fair as the political situation remains stable this year.”

Asked about the best asset of the house, the publisher said, “Every year we pave the way for three new writers to publish their books from Annesha. I believe we will find a skilled writer among them one day.”

Recalling his early days, Shahadat said he was the student of KL Jubilee School near Banglabazar. During his school days, he noticed that many noted writers could be seen at the houses of publishers of Banglabazar. “I often took autographs from the writers those days. At one stage, I took publishing industry as career out of hobby. And publishing is now my profession,” he says.