Fwd: ... a face-to-face with a writer par-excellence!!

 

To all Srijanites:

You are most cordially invited to this rare face-to-face with one of the most gifted writers of our times, Atiq Rahimi, on Sunday, the 17th of January, 2010, at 4 p.m. at our rooftop at 120, Lenin Sarani, Kolkata-13!

But we have to request you to please confirm to us that you would be with us and also please be committed to staying with us until 6:30 p.m.

A brief summary of Rahimi's profile is appended below this e-card:

 

 

Atiq Rahimi was born in 1962 in Kabul to a senior public servant. Growing up in Kabul, Rahimi attended the French language Lycee Isteqlal. Following the Soviet invasion, Rahimi fled Afghanistan, taking refuge in Pakistan for a year and then relocating to France after receiving political asylum.

On completion of his studies at the Sorbonne, Rahimi joined a Paris based production entity where he produced 7 documentaries for French television as well several commercials. Taking time off in the late 1990s, Rahimi embarked on his first writing project. His 2000 Dari/Persian book, Earth and Ashes, was an instant bestseller in Europe and South America. A movie based on this book, directed by Rahimi, was awarded the Prix du Regard vers l'Avenir at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. The film was featured in 50 festivals winning a total of 25 awards including the one at Cannes and a Golden Dhow award for best feature film at the Zanzibar International Film Festival.

In November 2008, Rahimi won France's most prestigious literary prize, the 105-year-old Prix Goncourt [1], for "Syngue Sabour", or Stone of Patience. In Syngue Sabour, Rahimi tells the story of a woman whose husband has been wounded in battle in a country resembling Afghanistan and now lies as paralysed as a stone. Syngue Sabour is Rahimi's fourth book and his first novel written in French.

Having returned to his native Afghanistan in 2002, Rahimi is also intimately involved in with the nation's largest media group, Moby Group (www.mobygroup.com), as a Senior Creative Advisor. The group established by brothers Saad Mohseni, Zaid Mohseni and Jahid Mohseni owns TOLO TV (www.tolo.tv), ARMAN FM (www.arman.fm), KABOORA PRODUCTION (www.kaboora.com), BARBUD MUSIC (www.mobygroup.com), LEMAR TV (www.lemar.tv), AFGHAN SCENE MAGAZINE (www.afghanscene.com)as well as a host of other media related entities. Rahimi continues to work closely with Moby in developing programs and genres for its various media outlets.

More importantly Rahimi has helped developed a generation of new Afghan filmmakers and directors.

Rahimi created and developed TOLO TV's \"Raz ha een Khana\" (Secrets of this House), Afghanistan's first soap opera. The hugely popular Secrets of this House took out the Special Award at the Seoul Drama Awards (www.seouldrama.org) in October 2008.

 

Rahimi now divides his time between Kabul and Paris.

 

-