Why do some of us write poetry in English?

That stopped me. Sometimes the basic questions are the best.

It is a topic that has been debated by an older generation of Indian authors and poets more prone to soul-searchig--Raja Rao is one example that readily comes to mind--than the current crop of Indian writers, most of whom take writing in English for granted, simply because not only due to the ease with which they write it, but because of the tradition of such writing they are backed up by. 'Keep on truckin’, Daddy O,' seems to be their attitude, 'and don't explain and don't complain'.

But what about us Bangladeshis? While the above debates/essays are relevant to us within the larger frame of South Asian writing in English, yet, I felt, surely there had to be some features, some kinks, unique to the Bangladeshi context. I turned to Kaiser Huq, described as 'the leading Bangladeshi poet writing in English' by the Journal of Commonwealth Literature (UK), as the perfect person to respond to the question. The following article is his answer, the title an echo of Sir Philip Sydney's An Apology for Poetry (1595). Hopefully, there will be others.

Kaiser Huq is represented in several international anthologies, such as Stories from South Asia (OUP) and The Arnold Anthology of Post-Colonial Literature. He has published five collections of poetry: Starting Lines (1978); A Little Ado (1978); A Happy Farewell (1994); Black Orchid (1996); The Logopathic Reviewer's Song (2002).

--Editor, Literature Page