Literary community
In a letter to the editor, I responded reflexively and rashly to a review of the recently published anthology-- Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from Asia, the Middle East & Beyond (W.W. Norton & Co., 2008) by Khademul Islam in your publication.
After having shared a series of exchanges with the author, however I'd like to amend that sentiment to ask a different question. Of what purpose is a literary clique if its exclusion is to the detriment of an entire nation? Working as an editor in America, I reached across to many poets and academics in Bangladesh to take the pulse of contemporary Bengali literature.
Yet it seems each person I contacted responded in seclusion for their own ends or ferried me off to others, knowing full well that the anthology I was helping put together would help represent Bangladesh on the stage of global poetics. Had some conversation between those various members of the intelligentsia and literary community taken place, the problems of translation or inclusions alluded to by Mr. Islam may have been mitigated. All of that said, I believe the anthology is an invaluable artefact for many reasons, not least of which because it creates conversations, such as this one, that wouldn't otherwise be taking place. Glad to contribute in some small way to the visibility of Bengal literature.
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