The 121st birth anniversary of poet and litterateur Jasimuddin, widely revered as the ‘Palli Kobi’, is being observed on Monday (1st January). The poet was born on this day in 1903 at his maternal uncle’s house in Tambulkhana village in Faridpur district. Being a versatile writer, Jasimuddin is also respectfully remembered for his numerous other creative works including poems, ballads, songs, dramas, novels, stories, memoirs, travelogues and more. Two of his legendary works, ‘Nakshi Kanthar Math’ (Field of the Embroidered Quilt) and ‘Sojan Badiar Ghat’ (Gypsy Wharf) are considered two masterpieces in Bengali literature and has been globally translated. As an esteemed lyricist, Jasimuddin penned many popular Bengali songs including ‘Amar sonar moyna pakhi,’ ‘Prano shokhi re,’ ‘Amay eto raate,’ ‘Nishithe jaiyo fulobone,’ ‘Amar haar kala korlam re,’ ‘Amay bhaisaili re,’ and others. For his remarkable literary works, Jasimuddin was awarded the President’s Award for Pride of Performance in 1958, DLitt. by Rabindra Bharati University, India in 1969, Ekushey Padak in 1976 and Independence Day Award (posthumously) in 1978. In January 2018, Bangla Academy announced Jasimuddin Literary Award, a biennial award to be given for lifetime contribution to Bangla literature.

Ekushey Padak-winning poet Asad Chowdhury has passed away on Wednesday, October 5. His son-in-law Nazim Iqbal confirmed the news to the media. Asad Chowdhury was in critical condition at the Lakeridge Health Oshawa in Ontario, Canada where he was undergoing treatment for blood cancer. Poet Asad Chowdhury was born in 1943. In 1973, he started his profession as a lecturer of Bangla language and literature at Brahmanbaria College. He also served as the director of Bangla Academy. He is a life member of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. His notable collections of poems include Tabak Deya Pan, Bitto Nai Besat Nai, Ekka Dokka, Joler Madhye Lekhajokha, Je Pare Paruk, Modhya Math Theke, Megher Julum Pakhir Julum, Nadio Bibastro Hoy, Premer Kabita, Batash Jemon Parichito, Brishtir Sansare Ami Keo Noi and others.

On the eye of the Russian Language Day and the 224th birth anniversary of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, a tribute and literary meeting was organized by the Russian House in Dhaka in collaboration with the University of Dhaka and the Modern Language Institute of the University. The event started with the laying of wreaths on the bust of Pushkin at the Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Building of Dhaka University. Honorable Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University Professor Dr. Akhtaruzzaman was present as the chief guest. Teachers and students of the Russian language course of Russian House, professor-students of different Faculties of Dhaka University, Russian citizens living in Bangladesh, Soviet and Russian Alumni and representatives of various media of Bangladesh were present during the tribute. In the second phase of the program, a literary seminar was organized at the Institute of Modern Languages (IML) of Dhaka University and it was inaugurated by the Honorable Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University Prof. Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman. Director of the Russian House in Dhaka welcomed all the guests and said that the whole world will be celebrating Pushkin's anniversary and International Russian Language Day at the same time, mentioning Pushkin's contribution to the development of Russian and world literature. Honorable Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University discussed the life and literature of Alexander Pushkin, the greatest Russian poet of all time and the father of modern Russian language and his influence on world literature. The Vice-Chancellor of Ranada Prasad Saha University (RPSU) of Narayanganj Manindra Kumar Roy reads the essay based on Pushkin's biography. Also, Yasmin Sultana, Russian language teacher of Russian House Dhaka, and Olga Roy, associate professor of Russian language course at Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) discussed about Pushkin in Russian and Bengali languages. After the literary seminar Soviet Alumni Association, Bangladesh (SAAB) members (Syeda Jolly, Dr. Mumtaz Rahman and Jebunnahar), Students of Russian language course at Russian House in Dhaka (Md. Shamin Yasir Ovi, Tasfia Yusuf, Mir Lihan Ahmad and Mohammad Mohsin) recited Pushkin's poems in Russian and Bengali. But will it be so easy to stop Holland or assist Kevin De Bruyne, who has scored 52 goals in 51 matches this season? The true rivalry between the two arch-rivals comes to life when they face each other. Footballers also know very well how intense the battle becomes with the weight of history and prestige.

To pay tribute to poet Allama Iqbal a two-day seminar was held at Gandhi Bhawan in India ruled Kashmir. The seminar was organised by the Iqbal Institute of Culture and Philosophy, the University of Kashmir on the occasion of Iqbal's 149th birth anniversary. He is a famous poet of the east. The theme of the seminar was Iqbal's contribution to a new perspective on knowledge, literature and culture. Professors, Urdu poets, scholars, researchers and students participated and highlighted Iqbal's role and contribution through a number of paper readings, articles and poetry. While speaking to ANI Professor Naseem Rafiabadi, Head of Department of Religious Studies, Central University of Kashmir said, "Iqbal's message of self-reliance for the youth can help students in shaping their character and practical lives. To promote the Urdu language, Iqbal played his role very well."Ghazi Nazir Naqash, a religious scholar at Kashmir University said that after a gap of almost two years a seminar has been organised in the Iqbal Institute of Culture and Philosophy. "It is a very important thing that during a COVID pandemic a seminar has been organised. This seminar was to give tribute to Allama Iqbal and to remember his contribution to a new perspective on knowledge, literature and culture," said Naqash. "Iqbal Institute of Culture and Philosophy always organise such seminars but this was organised after a long gap due to COVID pandemic. Allama Iqbal always guides people especially youths towards the right path. Professors, Urdu poets, scholars, researchers and students participated and highlighted Iqbal's role and contribution through a number of paper readings, articles and poetry," said LoneAnother student Amir Abbass said that this is a matter of pride for us that we have organised a seminar to pay tribute to Allama Iqbal and this kind of seminar is very essential for the young generation. Dr Ruksana Rahim, Organizing Member said that Allama Iqbal played a tremendous role to bring revolution in Islam. "Allama Iqbal is a very renewed poet. He gave a message to each generation, either they are children youngers or old age people his message is for everyone. He is a role model for youngsters. Other religions or scholars see women in different perspectives but he also gave value and respect to women," added Dr Ruksana. Allama Iqbal is a very famous and well-known personality across the world which results in educated people especially poets and literature lovers to follow in his footsteps. Source: ANI BM

American poet Louise Glück won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday for her “candid and uncompromising” work, which looks unflinchingly and with biting humor at loss and trauma, especially in family life, reports AP. She joins a handful of American poets who have received the prize, which has been dominated by novelists since the first award in 1901. The last American to win was Bob Dylan in 2016. She is also one of the few women honored — the 16th female Nobel Literature laureate. The Nobel Committee praised Glück “for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal,” in a citation read by Mats Malm, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, at the award announcement in Stockholm. Glück, who shuns publicity, had no immediate comment. In a 2012 interview with the Academy of Achievement, she noted that “worldly honor makes existence in the world easier” but said he true goal as an artist was “not capable of being had in my lifetime.” “I want to live after I die, in that ancient way,” she said. “And there’s no way of knowing whether that will happen, and there will be no knowing, no matter how many blue ribbons have been plastered to my corpse.” New York-born Glück, 77, who is a faculty member at Yale University, made her debut in 1968 with “Firstborn,” and “was soon acclaimed as one of the most prominent poets in American contemporary literature,” the committee said. Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel literature committee, said Glück’s 12 collections of poetry were “characterized by striving for clarity.” Olsson said her verses, which often draw on classical influences and examine family life, were marked by an “austere but also playful intelligence and a refined sense of composition.” Raised in a family with Hungarian Jewish origins, Glück has spoken of how a teenage struggle with anorexia, and the therapy she received for it, influenced her incisive writing. “Louise Glück’s voice is unmistakable. It is candid and uncompromising, and it signals that this poet wants to be understood. But it is also voice full of humor and biting wit,” Olsson said. “This is a great resource when Glück treats one of our great topics, radical change, where the leap forward is made from a deep sense of loss.” Glück’s poetry collections include “Descending Figure,” “Ararat” and “The Triumph of Achilles,” which was published in 1985 and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In contains one of her most anthologized poems, the spare and despairing “Mock Orange,” in which a flowering shrub becomes the focus of a wider wail of anguish about sex and life: “How can I rest? / How can I be content / when there is still / that odor in the world?” The committee described her 2006 collection “Averno” as “masterly” and “a visionary interpretation of the myth of Persephone’s descent into hell in the captivity of Hades, the god of death.” Glück is the recipient of many awards, including Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal in Poetry and the National Humanities Medal. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for “The Wild Iris” and the National Book Award for “Faithful and Virtuous Night” in 2014. She was U.S. poet laureate from 2003 to 2004. Nobel laureates receive a 10 million kronor (more than $1.1 million) prize and are usually feted at a banquet in December, but the event was canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s winners will be invited to attend in 2021. The literature prize comes after several years of controversy and scandal for the organization that awards the accolade. In 2018, the award was postponed after sex abuse allegations rocked the Swedish Academy, which names the Nobel literature committee, and sparked a mass exodus of members. After the academy revamped itself in a bid to regain the trust of the Nobel Foundation, two laureates were named last year, with the 2018 prize going to Poland’s Olga Tokarczuk and the 2019 award to Austria’s Peter Handke. But Handke’s prize caused a storm of protest: A strong supporter of the Serbs during the 1990s Balkan wars, he has been called an apologist for Serbian war crimes. Several countries including Albania, Bosnia and Turkey boycotted the Nobel awards ceremony in protest, and a member of the committee that nominates candidates for the literature prize resigned. On Monday, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize for physiology and medicine for discovering the liver-ravaging hepatitis C virus. Tuesday’s prize for physics honored breakthroughs in understanding the mysteries of black holes, and the chemistry prize on Wednesday went to scientists behind a powerful gene-editing tool. Still to come are prizes for outstanding work in the fields of peace and economics. Source: AP/UNB AH

Poet Habibullah Sirajee, the former president of Jatiya Kabita Parishad, joined Bangla Academy as Director General on Thursday. “I have joined office today following an office order in this regard,” Sirajee told Rtv Online. Poet Habibullah Sirajee was born on December 31 in 1948 in the village of Rasulpur in Faridpur. His first poetry book was published in 1975 while the number of his literary books is 65. His poetry has been translated into English, French, Swedish, Malay, Hindi, Urdu and Persian languages. He has traveled in the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Pakistan, Singapore, India and Malaysia. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2016 by the government of Bangladesh for his contribution to language and literature. MHK

The 42nd death anniversary of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam was observed in a befitting manner on Monday. The poet breathed his last at the then PG Hospital, now Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital in the city, on 12 Bhadra of Bangla calendar year in 1383 (August 29, 1976). In accordance with a wish, he had expressed in one of his poems, he was buried beside a mosque on the campus of Dhaka University. Different political parties, socio-cultural and professional bodies drew up elaborate programs to observe of the poet’s death anniversary. Reports BSS. The programs of the day began with Qurankhwani after Fazr prayers at the Dhaka University (DU) Central Mosque adjacent to the grave of the national poet. Later, teachers, students, officers and employees of the university assembled in front of ‘Aparajeyo Bangla’ sculpture from where a procession led by DU University Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Muhammad Samad proceeded towards the grave of the poet at 7.15 am. They paid rich tributes to the poet by placing wreaths at his grave. Besides, special prayers (fateha) were offered at the poet’s grave. A discussion was held with Prof Samad in the chair. Nazrul researcher and National Professor Dr Rafiqul Islam, Dhaka University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) President Professor ASM Maksud Kamal, Proctor Prof AKM Golam Rabbani, Music Department Chairperson Tumpa Samaddar and Associate Professor Dr Mohsina Akter Khanam (Leena Tapashi) were present on the occasion, among others. Bangla Department Chairman Professor Bismadeb Chowdhury conducted the discussion. Later, a cultural function was held where teachers and students of Music department performed different songs of Nazrul and poems were also recited. Awami League leaders and workers also paid tributes to the poet by placing wreaths at the grave of Nazrul Islam. AL General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Presidium Member Advocate Sahara Khatun, Joint General Secretaries Dr Dipu Moni and Advocate Jahangir Kabir Nanak were present on the occasion, among others. Besides, Cultural Affairs Ministry, Bangla Academy, Shilpakala Academy, Awami League associate bodies including Awami Mahila League, Swechchhasebak League and Chhatra League, Jatiya Kabita Parishad, Department of Public Libraries, Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigosthi, Nazrul Institute and Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote also placed wreaths. Shilpakala Academy arranged a discussion and musical function at its Chitrashala auditorium marking the anniversary of the national poet. Nazrul was a poet, lyricist, musician, revolutionary and philosopher. The nation got inspirations from Nazrul’s poems and songs during the great Liberation War and all democratic movements and struggles. Nazrul wrote nearly 3,000 songs and composed many of them which are known as Nazrul-Geeti or Nazrul Sangeet. After the independence of Bangladesh, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman brought poet Nazrul Islam to Dhaka from Kolkata along with his family and made arrangements for living with state honor. Bangabandhu also provided a residence for the family of the poet in the city’s Dhanmondi. In January 1976, he was accorded the citizenship of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television, and other private television channels and radio stations aired special programs while the national dailies published special supplements marking the day. AH

Ekushey Padak winning poet Belal Chowdhury died at a city hospital on Tuesday. He was 79.  The prominent poet breathed his last at 12:30pm at Anwar Khan Modern Hospital in Dhanmondi, Abdullah Pratik Chowdhury, eldest son of the poet, told UNB. The decision of his burying and funeral will be taken later after consulting with the family members, he added. The poet was admitted to Anwar Khan Modern Hospital in Dhanmondi on August 27. Since then he was admitted at the hospital.  The poet was suffering from diabetes and kidney problem for long. Chowdhury served ‘Bharat Bichitra’ as its editor, published from Indian embassy in Dhaka. He was also an editor of ‘Shaptahik Sandwip’ and ‘Krittibas’, a Bengali poetry magazine edited by Sunil Gangopadhyay. Belal Chowdhury also has reputation as journalist, essayist and translator. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2014 for his literary contribution. He also received Bangla Academy Literary Award. Belal Chowdhury was born on November 12, 1938 in Sharsdi village of Feni in the then Bengal Presidency under the British rule. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed condolence following death of the poet. Belal Chowdhury’s dead body will be kept at the central Shaheed Minar from 11 am to 12 pm on Wednesday for paying tribute from people all walks of life. AH