Mashiul’s ‘Milk’ wins Himal Short Story Competition 2019
The prize money will equally be split between the writer and its translator, who translated the story from Bangla into English
Bangladeshi writer Mashiul Alam's 'Milk' has won the Himal Short Story Competition 2019.
An announcement was made declaring the winner's name at the official website of the Himal Southasian on Tuesday.
The winners will receive prize money of $500, which will equally be split between the writer and its translator Shabnam Nadiya, who translated the story from Bangla into English.
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Also, the story will be published at the launch of Himal's new website in the new year.
The story is spun around a couple who toil away to survive. Once a child is born, the couple fails to take care of it and, at one stage, it is tended by a dog whose puppies were eaten by wild dogs. Soon the boy takes to drinking dog milk and once its parents find out the dog is killed. What follows then is apocalyptic flood of milk, ending in a symbolic catastrophe that works as an eye-opener for all.
Appreciating the story, editors at Himal Southasian said on its website "It is a story with so much of life in it -- humans, animals, open fields; a social, a natural and a supernatural world – and yet with an eye for minute details and an arresting turn of phrase.
"We marvelled that the story is so lucidly told and the translation so seamless and beautiful in its retelling. Here, we felt, is a story being told to us, that could be spoken or written, that held us in its thrall and led us beyond ourselves."
