James Tait Black Memorial Prizes
1 appearances
-
Edition 96 (2014) Winner
Zia Haider Rahman
ジア・ハイダー・ラフマン
Zia Haider Rahman
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- Sylhet Division, Bangladesh
- Nationality
- British
- Languages
- Bengali (Sylheti), English
- Residence History
- Bangladesh → London, England
Career
- Occupations
- novelist, broadcaster, investment banker, corporate lawyer, international human rights lawyer, anti-corruption activist
- Active Years
- 2014-2024
- Affiliations
- Goldman Sachs, Open Society Foundations, Transparency International, BBC, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampstead School | — | General | — | — | United Kingdom |
| University of Oxford | — | Mathematics | BA (First-Class Honours) | — | United Kingdom |
| Stiftung Maximilianeum | — | Mathematics, Economics, Law | — | — | Germany |
| University of Cambridge | — | — | — | — | United Kingdom |
| Yale University | — | — | — | — | United States |
Hampstead School
General
Country:
United Kingdom
Public school in London
University of Oxford
Mathematics
Degree:
BA (First-Class Honours)
Country:
United Kingdom
College scholar at Balliol College
Stiftung Maximilianeum
Mathematics, Economics, Law
Country:
Germany
Studies in Munich
University of Cambridge
Country:
United Kingdom
Further studies
Yale University
Country:
United States
Further studies
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | James Tait Black Memorial Prize | In the Light of What We Know | — | University of Edinburgh | winner |
| — | Radcliffe Fellowship | — | — | Harvard University, Radcliffe Institute | fellow |
| — | Montgomery Fellowship | — | — | Dartmouth College | fellow |
| — | Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fellowship | — | — | New America | fellow |
| 2017 | Honorary Doctorate | — | — | Southern New Hampshire University | recipient |
| 2016 | Ranald MacDonald Award | — | — | — | winner |
James Tait Black Memorial Prize
2015
Work:
In the Light of What We Know
Organization:
University of Edinburgh
Result:
winner
Radcliffe Fellowship
Organization:
Harvard University, Radcliffe Institute
Result:
fellow
Montgomery Fellowship
Organization:
Dartmouth College
Result:
fellow
Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fellowship
Organization:
New America
Result:
fellow
Honorary Doctorate
2017
Organization:
Southern New Hampshire University
Result:
recipient
Ranald MacDonald Award
2016
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
In the Light of What We Know
2014 Literary Fiction 624 pagesA philosophical novel exploring friendship between a mathematician from Bangladesh and a banker narrator, delving into mathematics, finance, post-9/11 world, love, and epistemology.
mathematicsfinanceimmigrationclasslimits of knowledge9/11
Translations
- Translated into many languages
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Intellectual and philosophicalComplex narrative voiceDialogue-driven
- Recurring Motifs
- class migrationcritique of liberal elitesknowledge and ignorance
Legacy
Acclaimed novelist who won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, Britain's oldest literary prize. Known for rags-to-riches story and critiques of liberal elites.
Quotes
-
There are so few class migrants into the liberal elites. When I was on the road at literary festivals promoting my novel, more than once I was told I really ought to meet [novelists] Mohsin Hamid or Kamila Shamsie. I’m not naive: liberal elites see race before class and are blind to the gulf between my background and the highly privileged one of the likes of Hamid, who attended Aitchison College, Pakistan’s Eton.
Source: Interview in The New York Review of Books
Trivia
- Rose from poverty to Oxford
- Mother tongue is Sylheti
- Contributor to BBC Radio 4's A Point of View
- Led Harvard project mapping global elites using ML and network science