The Department of English and Humanities of ULAB organised a poetry reading evening on 24 November featuring eminent poet, translator and editor Sudeep Sen. The reading of poetry was followed by a conversation in which renowned scholar Dr. Fakrul Alam, Professor of English at Dhaka University, and Ziaul Karim, writer, critic, and Head of Communications at EBL, discussed various aspects of Sudeep Sen’s poetry and engaged the poet in a lively discussion about poetry, art and performativity.

Sen, recognised as one of India’s finest poets, has been a prolific author producing more than a dozen collections of poetry. He studied English literature at the University of Delhi and was an Inlaks Scholar at Columbia University, where he earned an MS in journalism. Sen’s numerous honors and awards include fellowships from Hawthornden, Bread Loaf, Pleiades, LedigHouse, and the Dutch Foundation for Literature. He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard and an international writer-in-residence at the Scottish Poetry Library. Sudeep Sen is the first Asian to be honoured with an invitation to participate at the 2013 Nobel Laureate Week in St. Lucia, where he delivered the Derek Walcott Lecture and read his own poetry.  

In the programme, Sen read out poems from a special commemorative edition of his work, Fractals: New & Selected Poems, which anthologises his poems written between 1978 and2013. Some of these poems, the poet mentioned, were written during his five-year stay in Bangladesh and were influenced by various aesthetic forms including the oral poetry and music composed by folk poets and fishermen. Sudeep Sen’s reading was followed by a discussion on his art and versatility. Professor Fakrul Alam who introduced the audience with the poet’s various interests also mentioned how Sen’s prolific production is accompanied by his relentless pursuit of new forms and expressions. Professor Alam also talked about Sen’s ability to give body to sensory experiences, forcing on words the weight of visceral experience. Ziaul Karim, who engaged the poet into a discussion about his influences, practice, tempo and methods, mentioned how fifteen years of separation has not estranged him from the poet’s work.  

This programme featuring Sudeep Sen’s poetry was also attended by Professor Imran Rahman, the Vice Chancellor of ULAB, Professor Rafiqul Islam, Professor Emeritus, ULAB, Professor Salimullah Khan and Professor Shamsad Murtoza, Advisor, Department of English, ULAB.