A feast of literary delights

Reading literature, and reading of it, energises the sensibilities. That, of course, is a cliché. And yet when studies of literature happen to be undertaken in societies where English is not the local or national language, there is something of the exciting which comes into the whole exercise. Bengal Lights, a new journal that seeks to serve up delights in English language literature as they are produced in Bangladesh, does that. An observation of the Spring 2013 edition of the journal brings before you not merely the fact that there is indeed a wide landscape of English language writing in this country but also the reality of the various facets of writing --- fiction, poetry, non-fiction, et cetera --- underlying such writing.
Bengal Lights is surely a bold venture, in the sense that it seeks to present readers with write-ups they have not had in a long time; and yet these writings, or their kind, might run into impediments at some point. One would certainly not wish for such a circumstance to occur, but given that in the past attempts at creative writing in English in Bangladesh --- recall such gallant attempts as Form, published by the Department of English at Dhaka University --- have at particular points floundered, there are reasons for worry. That worry can certainly be offset by a regularity of publication where Bengal Lights is concerned. The Spring 2013 edition of the journal, based as it is on a richness of quality, offers one that certain reassurance that Bengal Lights will go a long way in satisfying the literary curiosities of the English-speaking section of Bengalis on this side of the old Bengal.
The issue under study comes with a remarkable offering of fiction. Among those who have contributed to the journal are Sabyn Javed-Jillani, Shazia Omar, Mahmud Rahman, Waqar Ahmed, Anthea Senaratna and Abeer Hoque. For art, who do you go to but our very own Shishir Bhattacharya? And then, surely, is that delightful world of poetry coming from Jaysingh Birjepatil, Ranjit Hoskote, Rowyda Amin, Tariq Latif, Daya Dissanayake, Matt Leibel and Akila Seshasayee.
A particular attraction of Bengal Lights happens to be the translations into English of works written originally in Bengali. There is something close to a feast here --- in the form of Papree Rahman's A Cloudless Night, An Eclipsed Moon; Humayun Ahmed's Eyes; Nadir Ali's Mangta The Sarangi Player; Manju Sarkar's My Dear Countrymen, Chandana Mendis' The Gift and Andalib Rushdi's The Great Leader's Piles Surgery Day.
The reader's excitement rises as he or she goes deeper into the world of delights encompassed in Bengali Lights. The section on non-fiction says it all. Buddhadev Bose's Purana Paltan, Anisuzzaman's An Afternoon With Shakti Chattopadhyay and Ganeshwar Misra's Take A Dip In Chandan Tank reinforce the notion of why literature has consistently been a fundamental underpinning of societal existence, especially in Bangladesh and West Bengal.
Bengal Lights opens a new portal to literature in Bangladesh, for the world beyond Bangladesh's frontiers to experience and savour. The journal could well be a precursor to the coming of newer offerings from the Bengali creative mind before a global audience. That is a hope. And a prayer as well.

Syed Badrul Ahsan edits Star Books Review and Star Literature.