Interview with Author Fazle Chowdhury
Fazle Chowdhury as a child, lived in numerous countries, including Cambodia, England, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Singapore, Italy, India and Pakistan. His father Rahman Chowdhury was an economist who worked for the United Nations agency World Food Program (WFP), so the family lived in different countries and moved frequently. His mother was a trained sociologist. He attended Kodaikanal International School, a boarding school in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. He later graduated from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts with a MSc. in Organization Management and attended Harvard’s Kennedy School of Education
He has worked as a contributor to Portugal based Expresso newspaper and has written extensively on Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. He is a Non-Resident Fellow at Washington DC based Global Policy Institute and Adjunct lecturer at Bay Atlantic University. He previously worked for International Business Machines (IBM) in Washington D.C. as a Management Consultant and an Economic policy Analyst for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Ramona:- Tell me more about your latest book and its process, and when is it out?
Revived Failure (due to release on December 3, 2019) is about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is the agreement on the Iranian nuclear program reached on 14 July 2015, between Iran and the P5+1 group (China, France, Germany, Russia, UK and US). On May 8, 2018, the United States withdrew from the agreement. The book is the insightful analysis of a lost “economic” opportunity which now has a global impact of unfavorable changes and challenges for Iran and the United States.
Ramona:- What was the most challenging aspect of writing?
Consistency and facts in parallel to keep the reader engaged is always the biggest challenge – particularly with me, especially when you are trying to describe about a niche subject and the complexities affiliated to it. The fact is Iran like its population is a complicated case. To explain it is just as hard as to disentangle its past to make sense of its present.
Ramona:- What motivated you to become an author?
For years I had handled data and I did not get the opportunity to write as I would have liked. The more I attended writer’s workshops and forums, I realized, I had to create that opportunity for myself and just see if I am able to make it to result in some success. I still long to write a fictional novel and hope I can bring my experiences from my previous works to make it a worthwhile endeavor.
Ramona:- Is this your first book, or you published other books under your name?
Revived Failure is my second non-fiction book on Iran. My first was Promises of Betrayals: the history that shaped the Iranian Shia clerics (published in 2018).
Ramona:- Do you prefer the traditional printed book style or e-book version? Why?
I have always enjoyed the traditional printed book. As much as I love kindle, as a writer there is an undescribed spiritual connection that a traditional printed book provides in inspiration and to some extent a reflection – both which is crucially significant.
Ramona:- What book or books have had a strong influence on you or your writing?
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Tender is the night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Around the World in 80 days by Julius Gabriel Verne.
Ramona: What is your advice for aspiring writers?
My advice to future writers – Take your time to polish your craft and please pay attention to detail because in the end the real audience that judges your work is you.
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