Anwar Ridhwan

Dr. Anwar Ridhwan or Mohd Anwar Ridhwan (born 5 August 1949) is a Malaysian novelist and writer.

Anwar Ridhwan was born into an agricultural based family in Sungai Besar, Selangor. He graduated from University Malaya with a Bachelor of Arts in 1973, then Masters of Arts in 1983 and finally finished his doctorate (Ph.D) in 1998. Soon he pursue his career in Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) until resignation in 2005 as Production Director of DBP. On 11 August 2009, he was officially announced as the nation's 10th Sasterawan Negara by the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in his office in Putrajaya.

He is novelist and a short story writer. His first novel, Hari-hari Terakhir Seorang Seniman (The Last Days of the Artist) won the Yayasan Sabah-GAPENA Novel Prize of 1979. Arus (Stream) (1985) won the Malaysian Literary Prize of 1984/1985. Among his famous short stories arePerjalanan Terakhir (The Last Journey) (1971), Dunia adalah Sebuah Apartment (The World is Just an Apartment) (1973), Sesudah Perang (After the War) (1976) and Dari Kiev ke Moskova (From Kiev To Moscow) (1992). Naratif Ogonshoto (The Tales of Ogonshoto) won the Sastera Perdana Award of Malaysia 2000/2001 which was inspired and finally finished by Dr. Anwar Ridhwan in Japan. The novel with another title, Bili i Nebili Ostrovov Ogonsoto (True and Imaginary Stories of Ogonshoto) was published in Russian (translated by Victor A. Pogadaev) in 2006, Sanct-Petersburg (Paideia). Among the latest works are Penyeberang Sempadan (Border Crossing) (2012) and Wajah Timur Lidah Barat. Permasalahan Imperialisme Linguistik di Malaysia (The Eastern Face, The Western Tongue. A Problem of Linguistic Imperialism in Malaysia) (2012).

1. Karya Sastera Prize of Malaysia (Hadiah Karya Sastera Malaysia) - Short Story Perjalanan Terakhir (1971)
2. Karya Sastera Prize of Malaysia (Hadiah Karya Sastera Malaysia) - Short Story Dunia Adalah Sebuah Apartmen (1973)
3. Karya Sastera Prize of Malaysia (Hadiah Karya Sastera Malaysia) - Short Story Sesudah Perang (1976)
4. Karya Sastera Prize of Malaysia (Hadiah Karya Sastera Malaysia) - Short Story Sasaran,
5. Karya Sastera Prize of Malaysia (Hadiah Karya Sastera Malaysia) - Short Story Sahabat (1982)
6. Karya Sastera Prize of Malaysia (Hadiah Karya Sastera Malaysia) - Short Story Menjadi Tua (1983)
7. 1st Prize Novel Writing Competition by Yayasan Sabah dan GAPENA 1 Hari-hari Terakhir Seorang Seniman (1979)
8. Malaysian Literary Prize (Hadiah Sastera Malaysia) 1984/1985 with the novel Arus
9. Malaysia Premier's Literary Award (Anugerah Sastera Perdana) 2002
10. 10th National Laureate Award (Anugerah Sasterawan Negara ke-10) on 20 August 2009 by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin.

...  The emergence of Naratif Ogonshoto highlighted the credibility of Dr Anwar Ridhwan in raising issues of humanitarian values and democratic concepts that became very relevanin postmodern life as well as showed his skill in mastering the innovative style of writing. - Victor A. Pogadaev