Shabdaguchha

The International Poetry Journal in Bengali

Translated Poetry
9th Issue
July-Sept 2000

From Barishal to Briarwood:
Bengali Poetry in English



Contributors

Humayun Azad: Poet, novelist, and essay writer. He has published over 40 books including 7 books of verse. He also edited a significant anthology, Adhonuk Bangla Kobita (the Modern Bengali Poetry). Dr. Azad is a professor of Bengali literature at Dhaka University.

Rafique Azad: Published 25 books of verse including the collected poems. He was a freedom fighter in 1971. His poetry reflected his experience in the war. Mr. Azad is the director of the Upajati Shangishkriti Candra, Natrakona.

Faruque Azam: Poet and dramatist. His first book of verse was published in 1995. He has been living in the United States since 1982. Faruque Azam is a licensed psychiatrist, practicing in New Jersey.

Sakti Chattopadhyay: One of the most significant poets in Bengali literature. His poetry is widely read in both Bangladesh and India. He published more than fifty books. Mr. Chattopadhyay died in 1995.

Prabir Das: One of the significant youngest voices of West Bengal. He is the author of 3 books of verse. He edits a Bengali quarterly, Ajker Kobita, form Shantinikatan. Mr. Das is the Shabdaguchha correspondent in India.

Jyotirmoy Datta: Poet and essayist. He worked for The Statesman, Calcutta's oldest English-language daily, as feature writer, correspondent, and associate editor. He visited the University of Chicago as a lecturer, 1966-1968, and also did a residency at the University of Iowa. He has published 2 books of verse. Mr. Datta now lives in Jamaica Estate, New York.

Robert Dunn: Poet and the executive editor of The Medicinal Purposes Literary Review. He is also the host of the weekly Poet to Poet talk show on channel 34, Manhattan. Zen Yentas in Bondage and Guilty as Charged are his books of verse. Mr. Dunn draws too.

Nirmalendhu Goon: Widely read in Bangladesh. He is the author of more than 30 books of verse and several collection of essays, including Ginsberger Shanga (With Ginsberg). His collected poetry was published in two decent volumes, in 1993.

Mohammad Nurul Huda: Poet, novelist, and essay writer. He is the author of more than 50 books including 30 books of verse and 2 novels. Mr. Huda also translates Bengali poetry into English. He is the Director of the Nazrul Academy, Dhaka.

Anuradha Mahapatra: A poet from West Bengal. She completed her M.A in Bengali literature at Calcutta University and published 5 books of verse. She has been published in several anthologies from Oxford University Press, Penguin India, etc. Another Spring Darkness is her selected poems, Published in the United States.

Al Mahmud: The most significant Bangladeshi poet of the present time. He also writes short stories, novels and essays. He enriched Bengali Poetry by his copious use of regional dialects. Mr. Mahmud is the writer of more than 30 books including 14 books of verse.

Gholam Moyenuddin: Poet and essayist. He is one of the directors of the Bangla Academy, Dhaka. Mr. Moyenuddin is the Shabdaguchha correspondent in Bangladesh. He published 20 books including 3 books of verse.

Al Mujaheedy: The author of more than 25 books including 15 books of verse. He is the editor of the weekly literary supplement of The Daily Ittefaq, widely circulated newspaper in Bangladesh.

Nazrul Islam Naz: Mainly writes poetry in English. He translated many American poets into Bengali, for Shabdaguchha, including Amy Lowell, Stanley Kunitz, etc. His first book of translated poetry, from Bengali to English, Breath of Bengal is accepted by the Cross-Cultural Communications. Mr. Naz lives in London.

Shaheed Quaderi: A significant Bengali poet of the 20th century. He is the author of only 3 books of verse. But his tone, alliteration, images and the use of simile made him a unique contributor of Bengali verse. He has been living in the United States for more than 15 years.

Shamsur Rahman: The most prolific and undoubtedly significant poet in the modern Bengali literature. He is the author of more than 60 volumes of poetry. His Selected Poetry got many editions since 1985. Through his poetry, he became the part of the history of Bangladesh.

Ruksana Rupa: Her first book of verse was published in February, 2000. Along with writing poetry, she is also engaged in writing essays and short stories. Ms. Rupa lives in Queens, New York.

Naznin Seamon: Adigonta Bistirnoter Dhala (Hollowness in the Horizon), her first book of poetry, published in February, 2000. Along with writing poetry, she writes short stories. Recently, she started writing a novel in Bengali. Ms. Seamon is the assistant editor of Shabdaguchha.

Abu Hasan Shahriar: Author of more than 20 books including 6 books of verse. His first book of collected essays was published in February, 2000. His work has regularly been published in many literary supplements in Bangladesh, India and in abroad. Mr. Shahriar is now the editor of the literary supplement of the Dhaka based Bengali daily Nutundhara.

The Guest Editor
Stanley H. Barkan: The editor/publisher of the Cross-Cultural Review Series of World Literature and Art in Sound, Print, and Motion. From Cross-Cultural Communications, he published more than 300 books of poetry in 52 languages from all over the world. In 1976 and 1978, he represented the United States at the Struga Poetry Evenings in Macedonia, and in 1987, he was one of the ten American editors invited by Teddy Kollek to represent the United States at the Jerusalem International Book Fair. He is the author of 5 books of verse and to date, his poetry has been translated into 16 languages. In 1996, Stanley received the Poor Richards Award from the Small Press Center "for a quarter century of high quality publishing."

The Editor
Hassanal Abdullah: Poet and novelist. He has introduced a new way of writing sonnets, where the rhyme scheme he uses is abcdabc efgdefg, while seven lines make a stanza. He calls them Swatantra Sonnets. Mr. Abdullah is the author of 5 books of verse, a novel, and a textbook on Bengali rhetoric and prosody. All of these were written in Bengali and published in Dhaka. He regularly contributes to the major newspapers and journals published from Dhaka and Calcutta. His translated work was also published in different poetry magazines in the United States. Mr. Abdullah is a High School math teacher for the New York City Board of Education. He also taught math and Computers at Laguardia Community College.

  • Back to the Translated Issue

  • Back to Front Page


    • To subscribe this special issue, write to Shabdaguchha with a $6 money order.

    Shabdaguchha, A Journal of Bengali Poetry, Published in New York, Edited by Hassanal Abdullah.