Shaukat Osman (1917-1998) earned recognition as promising writer of short stories in the forties. A tireless experimenter, he has written some very fine short stories, novels and plays. His writings are characterized by a board humanism and a deep concern for the underprivileged. He is a recipient of the Bangla Academy award in literature for proficiency in the field of short stories, the Presidential Award for Paride of Performance in the field of Bengali literature, and the Adamjee Literary Prize for his nove, The Laughter of a Slave.