Feature

Emerging women writers

Saushan Rahman

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. The Department of English and Humanities of BRAC University believes in this proverb. Thus this department has organized several programs in the past. These programs were organized not only for recreation, but also to introduce the students to the different literary genres. But most importantly, these programs focused on emerging writers and new voices of the country that choose to write and express their thoughts in English.

On 30th November the Department of English and Humanities had arranged an evening of recitation. The event was organized to celebrate the female writers of Bangladesh writing in English. Sanam Amin, a student of the department and Nausheen Eusuf, a faculty member, organized the program. Sanam Amin hosted the program.

Firdous Azim, chairperson of the department shared a few words with the audience in the beginning. She expressed her belief that these writers will serve as inspiration to others.

The writers were asked to read their favorite poem at first. The first speaker was Sabahat Jahan. She is a lecturer at North South University and has been writing since she was a teenager. She began with Pablo Naruda's sonnet 65 (the poem is unnamed). Then Sabahat Jahan read out some of her poems. Her poems were short and most of them were about love. Honey, Survival, Postcard, Home, these are the names of her poems.

The second guest Shazia Omar is a social psychologist. She read from a book by Dr. Seuss called “Places you go.” The long rhyme is all about going places, exploring the unknown, the ups and downs in life and making decisions. Shazia read the last part of the first chapter of her novel called “Heroin junky in Dhaka.” It is the story of two young boys who are drug addicts. The part that she read out focused on the lives of people living in the slums, their attitude towards each other and their point of view regarding life and the growing problem of drug addiction among the young generation of Bangladesh.

Rubana Ahmed was the third guest at the seminar. She is currently doing her PhD. Her favorite poet is Kaiser Huq. The first poem she recited is called As usual by Kaiser Huq. The next poem that she read is called Bhaat de public. This particular poem focuses on the political problems in our country. She read Bangla and English versions of the same poem. According to Rubana Ahmed, the present situation of the country bothers her the most and that is what influenced her to write the poem “Bhaat de public.”

Last but certainly not the least was Shabnam Nadiya. She first recited a poem by an African writer. She had read the poem when she was a teen age and says that this poem appealed to her as a young girl. The poem talks about how women are tortured in so many walks of life.

She read out her story which was about a young girl who gets raped. The criminal remains a mystery. At one time the community tries to abandon the girl, but later those very people help the girl to raise her baby. When she dies leaving her baby, it is the people who take care of the baby.

All in all it was a wonderful event. Such events will not only introduce young people to the works of new writers of the country, but also encourage them to write in English.

Saushan Rahman, Editorial Assistant, The Daily Star

Kuet Club of Ecstasy

Clubs play a vital role in campus life. While looking for some enjoyment, I always prefer cultural activities. In Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET) one gets this opportunity by joining the KUET Film Society (KFS). It is a popular club in the campus and was formed in 2004. The idea forming the club came up in 2002. It is relatively a new club but has some germane aim and objectives. Initially, our main aim is to knit a firm socio-cultural bonding among the students. Arranging film shows, collecting funds to help the poor people, participating in other cultural programs and celebrating different occasions through screening movies are our other objectives.

The club plays a remarkable role in the KUET campus. Our club moderator Md. Khaled Hassan Chowdhury, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, always encouraged our members, gives guidance and recommends our proposals to the authorities. Our other Advisors also give us motivation. We arranged some great film shows in the last couple of years. We arranged a holiday program, a special movie program on Victory day, Independence day, Bengali Noboborso, University day etc. We normally show historical and award-winning movies but comedy, action, romantic and science fiction are also shown at times.

Our club President Foisal said, “life and film are related just like bread and butter. We can see national and international social life, technology, culture and lots of other interesting things through films”. As a responsibility to the society we also showed some didactic movies.

In future we will organize a national film festival on KUET campus. Soon we will also launch our website so that students can give their feedback regarding the activities of club. Presently the club runs through the small contribution from members and the authority. But if the authorities ratify some extra facilities, KFS can become self-dependent and can extend its activities.

Sayeem, EEE, Batch- 04, KUET
Email- saqlain77us@yahoo.com