Aasha Mehreen Amin
Tahmima Anam,
a Bangladeshi writer, novelist and columnist won the Best First Book
winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for her first novel 'A
Golden Age' based on the 1971 Liberation War. Her second novel 'The Good
Muslim' was nominated for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize. In 2013
she was included in the Granta list of 20 best young writers. As one of
the co-producers of the Hay Festival Dhaka Tahmima talks to the Star about how this exciting literary event was brought to Dhaka and how Bangladeshi literature lovers have received it.
How did you and the other co-producers decide to bring the Hay Festival to Dhaka?
As these things often are, the connection was serendipitous--I was giving a talk at an event in West London, where I met the journalist Rosie
=Tahmima Anam=
Boycott, who is on the board of the Hay Festival. As soon as she heard I was from Bangladesh, she called Peter Florence and suggested we meet. Dhaka is, in some ways, an unusual city to host a literary festival. But Peter and his Hay Festival team have a tradition of choosing unexpected venues, so when the idea of Dhaka came up, he embraced it. The rest, as they say, is history. We were lucky enough to partner with Sadaf Saaz Siddiqui, who has been involved from the very beginning in organising the festival.
This
is the fourth year of Hay in Dhaka. Are you happy with the response it
has received from the Bangladeshi audience? What has been the biggest
achievement of Hay Festival, Dhaka?
Sadaf, Peter and I are thrilled with the success of Hay Dhaka. The audience numbers have grown from year to year, and so have the number of Bangladeshi writers and publishers. Every year, we bring more writers, launch more books, and try to expand the scope and diversity of the festival. This year we have some very eminent philosophers and scientists coming, so along with the literature side, our festival is also a celebration of ideas.
What has been the biggest challenge?
The logistical and practical side is always the biggest challenge--there are so many participants and stakeholders, and we try our very best to give everyone a platform. Sadaf is the main player in this regard--she does an excellent job of juggling all the details.
So far what kind of feedback have you received from the delegates you have invited?
The delegates have given us excellent feedback–most of them have never been to Bangladesh, and their assumptions about our city are always challenged in the best possible way. They are impressed with the engagement of our audience, the diversity of the talent on display, and the great enthusiasm with which they are greeted.
Do you think there should be a wider spectrum of Bangladeshi literature represented in future Hay Festivals – that is should there be more translated works and writers who write in Bangla?
Our festival is entirely bilingual, and we have a firm commitment to celebrating both literary traditions. You just have to look at our programme to see that Bangla is strongly represented--we have some great writers from both sides of the border, both established and emerging.
Why was the theme 'Imagine the World' chosen for this year's festival?
Imagine the World is the central theme of the Hay Festivals worldwide. It means that we broaden and expand our horizons when we celebrate words and ideas at a festival such as ours. We aspire to challenge and embolden people with every festival we put on, and this year will be another opportunity to do that.
The Heady Hay Days are Back
As November brings with it cooler winds to soothe our frayed nerves it also ushers in one of the grandest literary events Dhaka is waiting for all year – the Hay Festival. Now in its fourth year this festival's success is marked by the growing number of literature lovers, coming in the thousands, who throng Bangla Academy to get acquainted with renowned writers, poets and publishers of the world as well as rediscover the wealth of their own literature.
Starting yesterday November 20, the Bangla Academy premises has been buzzing with excitement with stimulating discussions, recitations and launching of books. The three day festival, the title sponsor of which is The Daily Star, promises to be yet another grand event with well-known names of the literary and journalistic world congregating and celebrating the evolution, magic and relevance of literature in today's world.
The festival's theme
'Imagine the World' extends the event's reach to anything and everything
that ignites the soul, including art, photography and music. There will
be interactive sessions on subjects as varied as the future of
journalism, the influence of Sufism, colonialism, war, political
upheavals and urbanisation on literature. There will be discussions on
the interesting links between mathematics and literature, on languages
going extinct, the power of images in storytelling, the process behind
writing a short story, the challenges faced by women writers and the
exciting possibilities of making science popular through literature.
There will be dances, songs and story telling sessions – everything to
fire up the imagination.
Highlights of Hay Festival Dhaka 2014 include international and local writers, poets, artists, philosophers and scientists: Shashi Tharoor, Syed Shamsul Haq, Jung Chang, Joy Goswami, William Dalrymple, John Ralston Saul, Javed Jahangir, Marcus du Sautoy, Zia Haider Rahman, Rana Dasgupta, Mirza Waheed, Lucy Hawking, Shaheen Akhter and Gideon Haigh.
How did you and the other co-producers decide to bring the Hay Festival to Dhaka?
As these things often are, the connection was serendipitous--I was giving a talk at an event in West London, where I met the journalist Rosie
=Tahmima Anam=
Boycott, who is on the board of the Hay Festival. As soon as she heard I was from Bangladesh, she called Peter Florence and suggested we meet. Dhaka is, in some ways, an unusual city to host a literary festival. But Peter and his Hay Festival team have a tradition of choosing unexpected venues, so when the idea of Dhaka came up, he embraced it. The rest, as they say, is history. We were lucky enough to partner with Sadaf Saaz Siddiqui, who has been involved from the very beginning in organising the festival.
Photo: Star File
Photo: Star File
Sadaf, Peter and I are thrilled with the success of Hay Dhaka. The audience numbers have grown from year to year, and so have the number of Bangladeshi writers and publishers. Every year, we bring more writers, launch more books, and try to expand the scope and diversity of the festival. This year we have some very eminent philosophers and scientists coming, so along with the literature side, our festival is also a celebration of ideas.
What has been the biggest challenge?
The logistical and practical side is always the biggest challenge--there are so many participants and stakeholders, and we try our very best to give everyone a platform. Sadaf is the main player in this regard--she does an excellent job of juggling all the details.
‘Endless Revolutions’ –Hay Festival Dhaka 2013.
Hay Festival Dhaka 2012.
The delegates have given us excellent feedback–most of them have never been to Bangladesh, and their assumptions about our city are always challenged in the best possible way. They are impressed with the engagement of our audience, the diversity of the talent on display, and the great enthusiasm with which they are greeted.
Do you think there should be a wider spectrum of Bangladeshi literature represented in future Hay Festivals – that is should there be more translated works and writers who write in Bangla?
Our festival is entirely bilingual, and we have a firm commitment to celebrating both literary traditions. You just have to look at our programme to see that Bangla is strongly represented--we have some great writers from both sides of the border, both established and emerging.
Why was the theme 'Imagine the World' chosen for this year's festival?
Imagine the World is the central theme of the Hay Festivals worldwide. It means that we broaden and expand our horizons when we celebrate words and ideas at a festival such as ours. We aspire to challenge and embolden people with every festival we put on, and this year will be another opportunity to do that.
Hay Festival Dhaka 2012.
A captive audience at the Hay Festival Dhaka 2011.
As November brings with it cooler winds to soothe our frayed nerves it also ushers in one of the grandest literary events Dhaka is waiting for all year – the Hay Festival. Now in its fourth year this festival's success is marked by the growing number of literature lovers, coming in the thousands, who throng Bangla Academy to get acquainted with renowned writers, poets and publishers of the world as well as rediscover the wealth of their own literature.
Starting yesterday November 20, the Bangla Academy premises has been buzzing with excitement with stimulating discussions, recitations and launching of books. The three day festival, the title sponsor of which is The Daily Star, promises to be yet another grand event with well-known names of the literary and journalistic world congregating and celebrating the evolution, magic and relevance of literature in today's world.
Highlights of Hay Festival Dhaka 2014 include international and local writers, poets, artists, philosophers and scientists: Shashi Tharoor, Syed Shamsul Haq, Jung Chang, Joy Goswami, William Dalrymple, John Ralston Saul, Javed Jahangir, Marcus du Sautoy, Zia Haider Rahman, Rana Dasgupta, Mirza Waheed, Lucy Hawking, Shaheen Akhter and Gideon Haigh.
Published: 12:00 am Friday, November 21, 2014
