With carefully concise phrases and crisp imagery poet Mohammad Shafiqul Islam pieces together the world around him, and us.
In his Wings of Winds anthology he remains close to the reader, as if to personally introduce each of us to his journey of contemplation and discovery. It’s as though we are with him as he considers something new, as he struggles to organise thoughts and through the various drafts in ink. In some way the poet within these finished works has kept alive the making of each poem. It’s as though while appreciating the fullness of his writings we can also take a peek at the creative processes he has engaged.
From the palette of colours he finds in ordinary objects, in impressions and life experiences, and most luxuriously in the singular elements of the natural world, we hear his voice in a well-worked yet deceptively simple arrangement, and it’s a voice of curiosity, compassion and tentative hope that he brings home to us.
Profile of the Poet: Mohammad Shafiqul Islam grew up in Tangail. He teaches English at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh. He writes poetry and fiction. His poems have appeared in journals both at home and abroad. Wings of Winds is his debut collection. The poet routinely keeps heedful notes of people, places and events, and he uses and reuses these notes as the raw material for his writing. He loves to reflect on the spirit of adventure, the exploration of soul, the joie de vivre of imagination, and the savoir-faire of fun. The poet also translates from Bengali to English. Some of his translation works are awaiting publication. He dreams to see a world without war, terrorism and poverty.
Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, poetry editor of Reckoning, is the author of two poetry collections, most recently Inner State (Daily Star Books, 2020), and translator of Humayun Ahmed: Selected Short Stories and Aphorisms of Humayun Azad. In February 2017, he was a poet-in-residence at the Anuvad Arts Festival, India, and his poetry and translation have appeared in Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Poem: International English Language Quarterly, Critical Survey, Stag Hill Literary Journal, SNReview, Reckoning, Dibur Literary Journal, Lunch Ticket, Bengal Lights, Armarolla, and elsewhere. His work has been anthologised in a number of books, including The Book of Dhaka: A City in Short Fiction, Of the Nation Born, Poems from the SAARC Region, and Monsoon Letters: Collection of Poems. Currently at work on a few translation projects such as The Letters of Kazi Nazrul Islam, Dr Islam is Associate Professor of English at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
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