Culture Desk
Penguin Random House recently launched “EroText” by renowned Delhi based poet Sudeep Sen (author of celebrated coffee table book “Postcards from Bangladesh”). On the occasion of the publication, Sudeep Sen also read out poems in English and Bengali. Both new and selected older works were recited by the poet with noted Bangladeshi poet Aminur Rahman giving him company. The event was recently held at Bishwo Sahitto Kendro, Bangla Motor in the city.
In EroText, the poet Sudeep Sen employs short poems in the style of fictions filled with short, meditative, gripping diction under five heads – desire, disease, delusion, dream, downpour – to show us that brevity can achieve the same thing magnanimity can. Displaying his mastery over language and the sharply controlled power of compact lines, the prose is intense, moving, captivating and leaves the reader wanting more.
Sudeep Sen is a major new-generation voice in world literature and ‘one of the finest younger English-language poets in the international literary scene’ (BBC Radio). He is the author of- Postmarked India: New & Selected Poems (HarperCollins), Distracted Geographies, Rain, Aria (A.K. Ramanujan Translation Award) and Ladakh, and has edited- The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry. Blue Nude: New Poems & Ekphrasis (Jorge Zalamea International Poetry Prize) is a forthcoming title to add to his credit. He is the editorial director of AARK ARTS and the editor of Atlas. Sen was the first Asian invited to participate in the Nobel Laureate Week, where he delivered the Derek Walcott Lecture and read from Fractals: New & Selected Poems | Translations 1980-2015. Recently, the Government of India awarded him the senior fellowship for ‘outstanding persons in the field of culture/literature’.
Aminur Rahman is known for his attempts to connect the poetry to the intellect rather than immersing it wholly in feelings and sensations. Utterly a romantic poet, his poems articulate the intensity of feelings and adoration. The poet’s major achievement lies in his weaving of a subtle irony through the intensity of emotion that quite overpowers him. His poetry is meditative and experimental. He has also raised eroticism to the level of art. The main elements in his poetry are solitude, love, yearning and inner vision.
Aminur has published six collections of poems in Bangla. His non-poetical works have been translated into more than twenty-five languages and has poetry books into English, Spanish, German, Japanese, Mongolian and Arabic. He also has two books of prose to his credit, while he has translated eight books of poetry and edited quite a few poetry magazines and books. He is also an acclaimed art critic in our country. He has represented Bangladesh in poetry festivals held in Colombia, Malaysia, Mongolia, India, Iraq, Japan, Sri Lanka, Spain, Nicaragua etc. He was awarded Genghis Khan Gold Medal (2006) in Mongolia and CLA Honour (2007) in Malaysia.
