Kaiser Haq

Kaiser Haq is a Bangladeshi poet, translator, essayist, critic and academic.

KA DINGA PEPO

It is odd that nowadays One seldom hears the words

Alternative routes

The book as a whole is a rigorously pursued exercise in the close reading of a fascinating and diverse array of modern texts that aren't quite in the category of the canonical mainstream.

‘FOR YOUR SAKE, O FREEDOM’ 1971 and Bangladeshi poetry

Bangladeshi poetry has always been sensitive to socio-political issues and public themes. In discussing the poetic response to the Liberation War, therefore, it is useful to start with the broad historical background, move on to the literary tradition, and then consider the poetry itself.

HEFTY AT FIFTY: ‘When the Mango Tree Blossomed’ and other short stories from Bangladesh

The centenary of the Father of the Nation, and following on its heels the golden jubilee of the country’s independence, have precipitated a tireless round of celebratory events and an avalanche of varied publications.

1971: Some fragments of memory

For a couple of months after the 1970 elections everything seemed simple and straightforward.

Remembering a literary personality: Farida Majid (1942-2021)

I find two distinct types among denizens of the world of letters. There are writers single-mindedly focused on literary production in one genre or more, and others I would call, for want of a better term, literary personalities.

FEMALE WARRIORS

I had decided to write a brief review of Selima Chowdhury’s book when it was first published, but what with one thing or another making me put it off, a couple of years rolled by, and we found ourselves caught up in a pandemic with no end in sight.

The China wave in literature

At the Hay Dhaka Literary Festival of 2012 the celebrated Indian writer Vikram Seth, after reading some of his fine translations of Chinese poetry, remarked that he found it odd that his fellow South Asians were incurious about the great civilization north of the Himalayas.

March 24, 2018
March 24, 2018

MY USELESS WEAPON

As Bird flocks take wing at the rattle of sten guns

August 26, 2017
August 26, 2017

SIX SHARED SEASONS

Let us say you dream of a woman,

August 25, 2017
August 25, 2017

Partition and Bangladeshi literature

The Partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 has become indissolubly linked to horrific, haunting images of armed gangs or mobs attacking helpless groups of men, women and children trying to cross a border that had just been scratched on the map. Literature registers the shock in works that make harrowing reading.

August 5, 2017
August 5, 2017

Ms Bunny Sen

been buggering around this goddamn city

June 17, 2017
June 17, 2017

Inheritance

“… they shall inherit the earth.”

June 17, 2017
June 17, 2017

Santahar

No, I've never been to Santa Fe.

June 10, 2017
June 10, 2017

GRISHMA, BARSHA

The azan goes

April 1, 2017
April 1, 2017

Poor Man Eating

Were I a painter

January 21, 2017
January 21, 2017

Michael Madhusudan Dutt: A Birthday Tribute

We celebrate Michael Madhusudan Dutt's birthday on 25 January, but we cannot be certain that this is absolutely accurate, just as we

October 15, 2016
October 15, 2016

A TRUE MAN OF LETTERS:

Bernard Bergonzi, poet, literary critic and novelist, died on 20 September at the age of 87. He was born in the Southeast London suburb

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