Feature

Lecture Series on English Studies at IUB:
Kaiser Haq Reflects on Poe

Rimla Chowdhury

Dr. Kaiser Haq, renowned poet, essayist, translator, editor and also a Professor of English in Dhaka University visited Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) on 27 January to deliver a lecture on 'The Relevance of Edgar Allen Poe'. The lecture is part of a Lecture Series on English Studies hosted by IUB.

The lecture was led by a brief introduction by the Head of the Department of English, Dr. Razia Sultana Khan with a recitation of 'The Raven' from the collection of Dr. Haq's poems. Dr. Haq began by pointing out how the charm and the haunting quality of Poe's poems remain with one and comes out in unexpected ways as happened in his case when he wrote 'The Raven'. Regardless of being no specialist and having done no academic work on Poe, Dr. Haq confesses Poe's work holding great meaning for him. Having read Poe often on he realized Poe as one of the seminal figures in the history of modernism, which he says is something people in the Anglophone world usually overlook. He says Poe's position is ambiguous in the Anglophone world since in America he is popular but not very highly regarded by the most highly placed academics. Nonetheless, Poe's influence on later writers is highly prominent and one cannot think of modern poetry and modern literature without him. As all great writers appeal to the common readers, not necessarily in literary form but in the form of plays, movies, etc. and so does Poe and every tradition has adapted and adopted Poe just as they have Shakespeare. Dr. Haq further talks about Poe harnessing the influence of American literary tradition in the 19th century further from home to Europe and Latin America along with a few other writers and leading it to maturity. He goes on to point how the 'detective story' is the invention of Edgar Allen Poe and also acknowledges Poe's extensive contribution to the genre of science fiction. Poe was also the first writer to use the term 'prose-poem', first used in his work 'Eureka' subtitled-'A Prose-Poem'. The genre of the prose-poem remains hugely significant in France through the influence of Poe. He finishes off by exploring Poe's influence on the development of modernism through his aesthetic ideas. The 'Talk' was coordinated by Shaiful Islam, Senior Lecturer, Department of English, IUB.

Dr. Haq has written six books of poetry and has a wide range of publications that include articles and reviews in London Magazine, The Journal of Commonwealth Literature and elsewhere. His work has been anthologized in many books at home and abroad.