Feature

Saushan Rahman

The young and talented writers along with some amazingly gifted artists congregated at Café Monsoon to celebrate two back to back events, launch of Professor Kaiser Haq's translations of Selected Poems of Shamsur Rahman and the launch of the third issue of Monsoonletters magazine.

The book of translated poems was first published in 1985. This time the book contains 11 additional poems by the eminent poet. The book is dedicated to the freedom fighters of 1971 and some of the poems there are The Horse, I Remember, Electra's Song etc. Some of the mosnooners recited the Poem Electra's Song.

Translation of selected poems of Shamsur Rahman is one of many translated works pf Professor Kaiser Haq. He says, "I began translating late 70s. Then I was only translating poems. I was not serious about the matter much then. Later I began to translate short stories and short novellas like Tagore's Chaturanga. In fact I took the task seriously in the mid 80s. The reason why I chose Shamsur Rahman because he is one the eminent poets of the country. He is highly regarded and a leading one of his generation. And for translation, I have chosen his selected poems." Regarding translation he says, "It is said that poetry gets lost in translation. But if there were no translation then more would have been lost. Lately lots of books written in Bengali are being translated into English. Similarly lots of books written in English are being translated into Bengali. That creates a scope for sharing culture. But in the subcontinent not many books in non-Bengali languages have been translated into Bangla or English. This needs some emphasis."

Monsoonletters, the brainchild of Rubana Haq, started its journey as the first and only literary website in June 2007. The website is dedicated to Bangladeshi writers writing in English. Initially there were only 15 members. Now there are approximately 55 monsooners and the number is rising every day. Now it is no longer limited within the cyber world. In January 2008, Monsoonletters had launched its first magazine. The magazine contains poems and short stories of aspiring writers as well as photographs. The main focus of the March issue was women for March being the month of International Women's day.

Monsoonletter has indeed created a huge platform for the young writers of the country. It is spreading the works of Bangladeshi writer all around the globe. Regarding Monsoonletters Professo Kaiser Haq says, "Monsoonletters has added a new dimension to literature in Bangladesh. It is because of this website people are getting to know about Bangladeshi writers. Few months ago I had received a letter from a sixteen-year-old girl from Paris. She said that she liked my poem and had sent me a small white card asking for my autograph on it. I know that she came to know about me and my writing from Monsoonletters, because she wrote the name the same why it is written in the website. I believe that this will be a comprehensive introduction to Bangladeshi literature."