Hasnat Abdul Hye is a man with several credentials, having spent a short spell as a teacher at Dhaka University, then joining civil service from where he retired as secretary in 2000, and all along following his literary pursuits on the sidelines. He proved his mettle as a teacher and distinguished himself in civil service. More than as a civil servant, he is widely known as a writer of fiction, travel books, treatises on aesthetics and critical essays on social, political and economic issues both in Bengali and English. Books published by him number over 100 for which he received the Bangla Academy Prize in 1977 and Ekushey Padak in 1995. He started writing a column in the Bangladesh Observer in 1982 while still in service, captioned 'Dateline-Gram Bangla' which was widely read and appreciated for the insightful analysis of the rural scene. After retirement he devoted full time to writing and reading and wrote columns in several Bengali and English dailies emerging as a prominent columnist besides being a creative writer.