Shamim Reza Selected Poems
Translated by: Dulal Al Monsur &
Mahbub Siddiqee
Blurb:
Shamim Reza's poetry expresses the song of a people that seeks to live in peace and harmony; it is baroque poetry that invites us to dream of the time of the sacred and the beauty of its elements from a foot to the waters of a river. The eroticism of the poetry of Octavio Paz, a great love poet and cultist of literary eroticism that he, precisely, discovered in the poetic tradition of Hindustan. Poetry is universal and communicates and unites cultures:
Shiva and parvati / the woman who is my wife and I / ask you for nothing / that comes from the other world: / only the light on the sea, / the barefoot light on the sleeping land and sea. ("Invocation", Octavio Paz). Accordingly, Shamim writes, Porani, please, come out of the embroidered quilt; I am / blue-throated / Shiva in love; / My throat is pierced with poison; the stony palace has / exhausted me..../ Who is that beloved living inside me?
The verses of Shamim Reza have a similar resonance of eternal human instinct and values to Octavio Paz.
Bio:
Shamim Reza is Poet, Professor and Editor.
He was born on 8 March 1971 at Jhalokathi District in greater Barisal. He is the founding Director and Professor of the Bangabandhu Institute of Comparative Literature and Culture, Jahangirnagar University. Reza started his literary journey in the early nineties. Over three decades, his contribution to Bengali Literature, especially in poetry is remarkable. He has been awarded several national and international awards for his literary contributions. A few of his remarkable books include Jakhan Rattir Naima Ashe Subarnanagare (When Night Falls at Subarnanagar), 2006, Hridoylipi (Soul Scripts), 2014, Deshhin Manusher Desh (Country of the Stateless People), 2018. Deys Publications, India published his Best Poems in 2022. Reza is the current Vice-President of PEN International, Bangladesh Chapter.