ENH has always been active in arranging events on Literature. On 10th March, 2016, it hosted the launching of the anthology titled Spiders and Other Stories at BRACU auditorium that reflects ENH’s interest in translations of Bengali short stories into English as well. The event was jointly organised by the Dept. of English and Humanities , BRAC University and Writers.ink. publishing house.
The author of the book is a UK-based Bangladeshi writer and winner of Bangla Academy Probashi Sahitya Puruskar (2012), Anannya Sahitya Puruskar (2009) and Ashraf Siddiqui gold medal (2008). The anthology, edited by Niaz Zaman and published by writers.ink, comprises of English translations of fourteen Bengali short stories by Chowdhury. The translators of the stories are Niaz Zaman, Shahruk Rahman, Jackie Kabir, Masrufa Ayesha Nusrat, Sabreena Ahmed and the author herself.
Professor Firdous Azim, Chairperson, Department of English and Humanities, BRAC University delivered the welcome address and introduced the author to the audience. The first discussant of the book was eminent writer Selina Hossain. She pointed out the fact that Saleha Chowdhury’s stories depicts different features of human psychology. Most of the stories have a touch of black humour and surprising ending. She also emphasized on the importance of good translations that can highlight Bangladesh’s literature in the world. She thanked Professor Niaz Zaman, the publisher and editor of the book for being a pioneer in publishing translations.
Renowned literary critic and creative writer, Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam, Department of English, University of Dhaka shared his views on the anthology. He said that Bangladesh needs a group of editors as translators will try to bring out the original story’s essence in their works. But an editor plays a crucial role in making the stories readable for everyone.
The editor and publisher of the anthology, Professor Niaz Zaman informed the audience about how writers.ink began. Writers.ink mainly aims at promoting women’s writing from Bangladesh. However, it has published works of Syed Waliullah, Kaiser Haq, Syed Najmuddin, Anis Chowdhury and many other male writers as well.
The last speaker of the launch was Jackie Kabir, one of the translators of the anthology. She introduced the audience to Gantha, a women writers’ group initiated by Professor Niaz Zaman who get together every month to discuss each other’s works. Gantha is the inspiration behind translating women’s writing in Bengali into English.
Sabreena Ahmed, Senior Lecturer of ENH ended the programme with the vote of thanks to the volunteers and the audience.