Launching '9th Edge-Creative Writing from Bangladesh'

Naziba Basher

"A box has eight corners or edges. We wanted to produce something that would go beyond those 8 edges and outside the box. Thus, we have the 9th edge,” said Tanvir Malik, one of the writers and a member of the 9th Edge team.

On the October 22, 2012, 9th Edge, a compilation of creative writing from different writers of Bangladesh, was launched at Omni Books, Genetic Plaza, Dhanmondi, Dhaka.

The reviewers were Professor Kaiser Huq, Department of English, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and University of Dhaka, Professor Razia Sultana Khan, Department of English, Independent University, Bangladesh, Professor Kashinath Roy, Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Dhaka and Professor, Department of English, University of Dhaka, and Professor Dr Nurul Islam, Vice-Chancellor, Eastern University.

The team that worked hard for the making and publishing of this book consists of Tanvir Malik, Sharif Hasan, Sabrina Binte Masud and Theotonius Gomes.

The 9th Edge team with the reviewers. Courtesy: 9th Edge Team

Tanvir Malik, in his opening speech, spoke about the inception of the idea of making this book. “It took us around two years to get this idea going and finally, we successfully produced a book. Sharif Hasan, a team member, contacted our friends and we were all on board with his idea of making this one-of-a-kind book.” He also thanked whoever was involved in this project, including SM Emdadul Islam, Director, Babylon Group, for none of this would have been possible without their contribution and help.

9th Edge has had a launching before this one at the Ekushey Grantha Mela, 2012, in February, right after it was completed.

Professor Nurul Islam, in his speech said, “It is needless to say that I am very happy to be amongst all these established and budding writers. After I had come back from abroad, the first time I had seen such potential was when I attended a literary meeting with Brine Pickles. I was surprised at how the writing scene had changed so much after nine years and what I saw was very promising.” He added, “This book is already unique since this book has been born twice considering that this is the second launching.”

Professor Razia Sultana congratulated the 9th Edge team along with the other writers who had contributed to the book. She spoke about the blend of genres in the book. She also said, “I thought the title was very clever. The title is one of the most important parts of a write-up. With a strong title, it is easier to grasp a reader's attention. That being said, with editing being such a problem here, I would like to say that this book shows that there is a lot of potential but there is still scope for revision.”

Between the speeches by the guests, some of the writers read out some pieces from the book.