Gantha March18thVirtual Meeting
The Gantha meeting on March18, 2023, was held online from 4.00 p.m. to6 p.m. Themeeting was conducted by Marzia Rahman.It was a lively programme which included members talking about their recently published books.
Tasneem Hossain spoke first on her books; she has published three books this year. Split and Spliceis a collection of articles. It has twenty-two articles examining different facets of life. Floating Features and Grass in Green are poetry books. Grass in Greenwas published by Southern Arizona Press (USA). Hossain recited three poems,Let’s Walk Together, You and I, I am a prostitute and Loneliness.
Marzia Rahman spoke next on her book, published last year. It’s a translation of Syed Shamsul Haq’s novella Ditiyo Diner Kahini (The Aftermath).She briefly talked about the book and then read out some excerpts.
Afroza Parveen who has published five books this year wasthe third speaker. The titles of her books are Ekusher Galpa, Muktijudhe Nari, Bhasha Andolone Nari, Bishwa ShahiteyBaishDikpal and MuktijudheOnuperonakariBangamata Sheikh Fojilatunnesa Mujib. Parveen also talked about the difficulties she faced while collecting the data and information for her books.
Jackie Kabir talked about her Bangla translation of Ngugi WaThiongo’s novel BetweenThe Rivers. The Bangla title is Modhikhane Nodi. Ngugi WaThiongo is a Kenyan author and academic who writes primarily in Gikuyu. Jackie Kabir mentioned how she waited for five years to find a home for her manuscript. She gave a short introduction of the book and read out some excerpts.
Nurquamrun Nahar discussed her two books titled Bagher Achar and NarirBiswa, bothpublished this year. Bagher Achor is a collection of short stories and NarirBiswa is a book of twenty-nine essays. Nahar read a few excerpts from three of her short stories called Bagher Achar, Nari Bari O MontriMohadoi andTofa.
Niaz Zaman was the last speaker who talked about the books she translated and edited in 2022 and 2023. The books are: Ekushey Anthology, Syed Waliullah A Centenary Tributeand Rizia Rahman’s ShilaiShilaiAgun (The Burning Stones). The Burning Stone is co-translated by Niaz Zaman and Shirin Hasnat Islam. Niaz Zaman mentioned how she finds it very interesting that Rizia Raman made Lalu, a mentally handicapped man, the protagonist of her novel. Niaz Zaman discussed the book briefly.
The date of the next meeting was not fixed yet. It will be decided later by the members.
List of attendees in March Meeting:
- Niaz Zaman
- Razia Sultana Khan
- Afroza Parveen
- Nurquamrun Nahar
- Jackie Kabir
- Nasreen Kabir
- Tasneem Hossain
- Marzia Rahman
- Nigar Sultana
The photo is attached herein:
