(This article is a part of the web-exclusive series from our latest issue 'The Bangladesh Paradox'. More from the print quarterly here.)
English-language writing in Southasia occupies a peculiar position in the region's cultural landscape – one that has been conditioned by its colonial history but also the last few decades of globalisation. Yet, as the evolution of literary writing in English in East Bengal (and later independent Bangladesh) shows, the trajectory was not a straightforward one. In Bangladesh's case, it was further complicated by the role Bengali-language nationalism played in the country's history.
Still, given the quite robust state of English-language writing in India, and the vitality of literature in several metropolises of Southasia, one would have thought that Bangladeshi writing in English would be in full bloom by now. But that is not the case. The handful of writers from Bangladesh who are well-known abroad and have garnered literary prizes, such as Adib Khan, Monica Ali, Tahmima Anam and Zia Haider Rahman, are long-time expatriates. Few English-language writers based in the country are published abroad, if at all. Even the one Bangladeshi English-language poet of real distinction, Kaiser Haq, who makes his appearance in various anthologies and little magazines in the West, has not had a volume of his poetry published abroad. He has been translated sparingly and received relatively little critical attention. Only in the last two decades has there been some signs of movement in the country as far as English-language writing by Bangladeshis based in the country is concerned, but it is too early to tell whether the progress discernible can be sustained or be comparable in vitality and appeal to the literary writing scene elsewhere in Southasia.
Given this context, one is bound to wonder: why has Bangladeshi writing in English been something of a shadowy and tentative presence until very recently. And how good is the quality of the work published in English at this time? When will the rest of the world take note of English-language writing "published in the streets of Dhaka" – the ironic title of a selection of poems by Haq, derived from a throwaway remark made by Gore Vidal?