Contributors' Bio

Aleksey Dayen (1972-2010) was a Russian-American award-winning poet and novelist, publicist, translator, artist, and photographer. He was born and raised in the USSR and immigrated to the United States in 1994. His writings have been published in anthologies and leading periodicals worldwide. He died on Nov 20, 2010 in his apartment in Brooklyn.

Anuradha Mahapatra is a poet from West Bengal, India. She completed her M.A in Bengali literature at Calcutta University and published more than five books of verse including her Collected Poems. She has been published in several anthologies from Oxford University Press, Penguin India, etc. Another Spring Darkness is her selected poems, in English Translation (Tran. by Carolyne Wright), published in the United States.

Bishnupada Ray is an Associate Professor of English at the University of North Bengal, India. His poems have appeared in Indian Literature, New Quest, Makata, A Hudson View, Tonight—An Anthology of World Love Poetry, Shabdaguchha and Revival.Three volumes of his poetry have been published by the Writers Workshop, Kolkata, India. He won a Pushcart Prize nomination in 2009.

Chanakya Barai is a graduate student of the Art Institute at the University of Dhaka. He works for the Daily Prothom Alo. Along with poetry, he also contributed short stories and critical essays to various bengali literary supplements published from Dhaka.

Gail Goldstein taught in the New York City Alternative High School Programs for 31 years. She currently works as an ABA therapist with children who have autism. Gail’s poems have been published in the 2009 edition of Long Island Sounds Anthology. Gail won Third Place in the 2010 Princess Ronkonkoma Poetry Contest.

Hassanal Abdullah is a Bangladeshi-American poet who has been living in New York for more than twenty years where he is a High School math and computer teacher. He introduced Swatantra Sonnets with seven-seven stanza and abcdabc efgdefg rhyming scheme. Mr. Abdullah, an author of 19 books in various genre, also wrote an epic in which he searched for the relation between human beings and various aspects of the Universe.

Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) One of the most influential modern poets of the Bengali literature. Not only did he have a huge contribution in poetry, he also wrote more than 10 novels and significant critical literary essays. However, he was not much known even to the Bengali readers until his accdential death. A Poet Apart (1990), was written by Clinton B Seely on his life and poetry.

John Dotson works as poet, playwright, sculptor, and educator residing in Carmel, California. John's most recent work is Rivulets of Light; poems of Point Lobos and Carmel Bay (Cross-Cultural Communications, 2008) and Love For Ever Meridian: finding Dylan Thomas in the 21st Century (forthcoming).

Jyotirmoy Datta Poet, short story writer and a significant critic of the Bengali literature. He worked for The Statesman, Kolkata'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 is the author of 8 books including 3 collections of poetry, a novel and the first volume of his Collected Short Stories. Mr. Datta lives in Hillsborough, New Jersey.

Mansur Aziz is the author of nine books. He received his Master's degree from Jagannath University, Dhaka. He has regularly been contributing to the literary supplements and magazines published from Dhaka and elsewhere in Bangladesh. He also wrote poetry for children.

Maria Mazziotti Gillan won the American Book Award for her latest book, All That Lies Between Us. She is the Founder /Executive Director of the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, NJ. She is also Director of the Creative Writing Program and Professor of Poetry at Binghamton University, State University of New York. She has published eleven books of poetry, including The Weather of Old Seasons and Where I Come From. She is the editor of the Paterson Literary Review.

Naznin Seamon is a graduate student of English literature at Queens College of CUNY. Her first book of poetry, Adigonta Bistirnoter Dhala (Hollowness in the Horizon), published in February, 2000 and was reprinted in 2004. Her second book, Prototo Raktakto Chitker (2008), a collection of short stories, was published by Ananya. She is the recipient of the Shabdaguchha Poetry Award 2007.

Nicholas Birns teaches at Eugene Lang College, the New School University. His most recent book is Theory After Theory (Broadview, 2010). A Columbia University graduate (1988), Prof. Birns received his Master's (1990) and PhD (1992) in Literature from New York University. He believes "thinking about literature is a critical enterprise which calls upon our deepest intellectual reflection and discernment."

Nirmalendhu Goon is widely read throughout Bangladesh and West Bengal. He is the author of more than 90 books in various genre including Ginsberger Shanga (With Ginsberg) and his Autobiography in three volumes. His Collected Poetry was published in two decent volumes, in 1993. His poetry has been translated into English, French and Japanese.

Robiul Manik works for the garments sector as an assistant general manager in production. He has recently been writing sonnets in the Swatantra Sonnet form introduced by Hassanal Abdullah in the early 1990s. He has traveled many countries including South Korea, Thailand, and Singapore. Mr. Manik lives in Dhaka.

Rasel Ahmed is a poet of the first decade of the 21st century. He is a student of Dhaka College.

Reza Noor, a lecturer of English Literature at Jhikargacha Women's College, Bangladesh, until he moved to the United States in 1996, is the author of five books including the translated version (English to Bengali) of The Contemporary Poetry of America which was published in two volumes. Formerly known as Rezanur Rahman Reza, Mr. Noor worked for The Weekly Bangladesh as a Literary Editor. He lives in South Easton, Massachusetts now.

Rizwanul Islam Rudra, poet and a young film maker, has contributed to literary supplements and magazines published from Dhaka and elsewhere in Bangladesh. He is a regular contributor to Shabdaguchha.

Stanley H. Barkan was New York City’s 1991 Poetry Teacher of the Year and the 1996 winner of the Poor Richard’s Award, “The Best of the Small Presses.” As publisher of Cross-Cultural Communications, now in its 40th anniversary year, he has produced some 400 titles in 50 different languages. His own work has been published in 15 collections, including Crossings, a bilingual (English-Russian) chapbook translated by Aleksey Dayen.

Terry Clarke was born west of London at the dawn of rock 'n' roll, its rhythms and songforms were drawn into his DNA as if magnetic filings, never to be shaken loose. In his world, Johnny Cash sits beside Stephen Sondheim and Frank Sinatra. "The Boy from Kiev" was written upon learning of Aleksey Dayen's death.