'There are signs that indicate change is in the air'
Fakrul Alam is an eminent literary critic, editor and translator. He is the editor of Six Seasons Review, a literary magazine which will be launched at Hay. In this interview, Alam shares his views with Rifat Munim about the progress of English writing in Bangladesh and the need for literary magazines to provide budding writers with a solid platform.
Rifat Munim: In one of your write-ups published in a supplement brought out by The Daily Star three years ago, you regretted the fact that Bangladeshi writing in English was not thriving. Do you think the situation is changing now?
Fakrul Alam: Well, we certainly haven't produced a major writer comparable to, say, Arundhati Roy or Vikram Seth and are still some way from doing so and for too long Kaiser Haq has been the only Bangladeshi writer in English whose work was read and anthologized internationally. In that way the situation hasn't changed very much. But there are signs that indicate change is in the air as far as Bangladeshi writing in English is concerned. For instance, Kazi Anis Ahmed's debut collection 'Good Night, Mr. Kissinger' last year and the publication of bengal lights indicate that we now have quite a few accomplished new voices making their presence felt. Members of groups such as Writer's Block have also published some quality writing in recent years. The fact that someone like Shazia Omar has had her work published by Penguin India suggest to me too that our English writers are now attracting at least a little attention in the international writing scene.
RM: Do you think Dhaka Hay Festival has played an important role in giving this boost?
FA: No doubt it is too early to claim that Dhaka Hay Festival has already been giving Bangladeshi writing in English a boost but surely the success of the two events organized in successive years indicate that it is bound to do so soon. The enthusiasm on display, the new works published for the second Hay event and the number of books sold are no doubt going to encourage not a few writers and publishing houses to launch new works this year and I won't be surprised if at least a few good publications greet us in this year's festival. Indeed, I know that quite a few works in English are going to be launched at this Hay and it isn't too much to expect that one or two of the works published this year is going to attract widespread attention at home and abroad.
RM: We have often seen that aspiring writers, of course who want to write in English, do not have a platform to look up to. When they finish a good story, they don't know where to submit it. And the few places that they have, one or two literary supplements and magazines, are said to have favoured certain literary groups. Don't you think presence of quite a few quality literary magazines is a must to support our budding writers?
FA: Of course aspiring writers need appropriate outlets and literary magazines have always played key roles in literary movements everywhere all the time. When we published three issues of Six Seasons Review in the first few years of this millennium we managed to provide space for such writers and Bengal Lights has done so earlier this year. I do believe that the new series of Six Seasons Review being launched at this Hay will showcase some quality aspiring Bangladeshi writers in English as will the next issue of Bengal Lights.
RM: Tell us something about the next issue of Six Seasons which is going to be launched at Dhaka Hay. Is it going to contain only fiction or non-fiction too?
FA: The next issue of Six Seasons Review will contain quite a few poems by Bangladeshis as well as fiction and non-fiction. It will also have what I think is a fascinating photo essay on Dhaka life. I believe that the variety and vitality of the writing anthologized will delight readers and indicate that there is much to look forward to as far as Bangladeshi writing in English is concerned. As the editor I must say I was encouraged by the number of submissions and it was good to have the opportunity to select the best from the many good poems and prose pieces submitted to us.
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