Atopor Shabdayan becomes Bangladesh partner of global poetry platform Lyrikline

A new global journey for Bangladeshi poetry has begun. Recently, Atopor Shabdayan, a Bangladesh based literary and cultural initiative, officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Germany based international poetry platform Lyrikline.

Through this agreement, selected works of representative Bangladeshi poets will now be available to readers across different languages on the Lyrikline platform.

Founded in 1999, Lyrikline is one of the leading online platforms dedicated to presenting the diversity of contemporary poetry to a global audience. Lyrikline was created by Haus für Poesie in cooperation with its international network of Lyrikline Partners. Currently, the platform works with poetry in 95 languages and collaborates with literary organisations in 50 countries. Its extensive archive already includes works from approximately 1,771 poets.

Under this agreement, poems by several prominent Bangladeshi poets have already been published on Lyrikline. Works by poet and organiser Nishat Jahan Rana, poet Pias Majid, and poet and artist Shibu Kumer Shill are now available on the platform.

Atopor Shabdayan plans to gradually publish important works of more Bangladeshi poets as part of this ongoing collaboration.

Poet Jubair Shawan, Chief Visionary Officer (CVO) of Atopor Shabdayan, said, “It is highly significant that this global journey of Bangladeshi poetry begins on World Poetry Day. This initiative is a new effort to present the Bangla language and literature to the world. Through this platform, it will be possible to introduce important works of our representative poets to the international arena. Poetry lovers from different linguistic backgrounds will be able to read Bangladeshi poetry. At the same time, it will open opportunities to collaborate with many countries in the fields of art and literature.”

Bangla poems will initially be translated into English and German, and later into other languages available on the platform.

The platform will also feature audio recordings of the poets reading their own works, along with recorded video content.