Zafar Iqbal’s birthday today

Today is the 67th birthday of writer and educationist Muhammed Zafar Iqbal.

Iqbal was born on 23 December 1952 in Sylhet.  His elder brother was the legendary author and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed.

He wrote his first short story at the age of seven. While studying at Dhaka University Iqbal's story "Copotronik Bhalobasha" (Copotronik Love) was published in a local weekly magazine, Bichitra. Later he rewrote the story and published it as a collection of stories titled Copotronik Sukh Dukho.

Despite being a physicist by qualification, he went on to make a name for himself in the field of literature; his genre of writing is science fiction and children's literature. His interest in writing developed during childhood through his father’s motivation. After working for a couple of years in the field of research, he took up teaching at the university level.

He is also a renowned columnist who contributes regularly to Bangladeshi mainstream newspapers. Several of his novels have been adapted into dramas and films. He has been a recipient of several awards in the field of literature, the most significant of them being Bangla Academy Literary Award and Rotary SEED Award.

Iqbal married Yasmeen Haque in 1978. They have two children - son Nabil and daughter Yeshim. At present, he is professor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet.

Dhaka/Mukul