The prestigious Anannya Literary Award 1429 (2023) was handed to journalist and author Shahnaz Munni on Saturday in the Poet Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the Bangladesh National Museum.

The award is given each year by acclaimed feminist magazine ‘Anannya’.

Eminent author Anwara Syed Haq presented the award to Munni as the chief guest of the ceremony, which was joined by Jahangirnagar University academician and author-researcher Hamim Kamrul Haque as the special guest.

Anannya editor Tasmima Hossain chaired the event. "I would like to congratulate Shahnaz Munni on earning the Anannya Literary Award 1429. She is a prolific writer, and I believe she will achieve great success in her career,” she said.

Sharing her joy over the achievement, Shahnaz Munni said: “For thirty years I have been writing, and this is the very first award I have ever achieved in my writing career. I am so grateful for this award and also to the fortnightly Anannya.”

Shahnaz Munni was born on February 8, 1969. Alongside her identity as a successful author, she is a renowned television journalist and currently working as the chief news editor at News24. 

Her literary works include 24 books, namely ‘Elo Krubdho Ondhokar’, ‘Badur o Brandy’, ‘Tritiyo Ghonta Porar Agei’, ‘Pan Sundari, ‘Nirbachito Golpo’, ‘Ami ar Amin Jokhon Azimpurey Thaktam’ and ‘Snaner Shobdo’, which is being published from Mowla Brothers at this year’s Amar Ekushey Boi Mela.

Anannya Literary Award was introduced in 1993. The award honours a woman writer every year for her contribution to literature.

A handful of eminent women writers have been conferred with this prestigious award over the years, including Selina Hossain, Rabeya Khatun, Niaz Zaman, Rizia Rahman, Nilima Ibrahim, Dilara Hashem, Rubi Rahman, Begum Akhtar Kamal, Jharna Das Purkayastha, Akimun Rahman, Nadira Majumdar and more.

Read more: 10 promising, successful women receive Anannya Award 2021