<i>Four Ekushey Boimela Little Magazines </i>
Aninda; Tk 100.00
This little magazine has been around for a long time--as recollected in a anecdotal, semi-brooding piece on Aninda's 20 years by Tapan Barua titled 'Aninda'r beesh bochor, pasha pashi tobuo duray duray.' It reveals the gradual fading away of Barua's generation of little magazine activists, as they've launched into other lives, or simply faded away, ending with a forlorn line that "one day in this Bengal there will be a true literature, a little magazine. From Dinajpur to Chittagong." This issue is a mix of short stories, a fairly lengthy in memorium of little magazine poet Sonchoy Prothom, essays and translations, and some poems. Interesting reads are Tania Bulbul's semi-fictional 'Durjog Bhromon,' a capable translation 'Time within time -- Tarkovosky's Diary,' and Mohammed Khusru's photo essay 'Mon Poboner Nao.' Drishtobbo; Tk 100.00
This special issue Drishtobbo packs a variety of short stories, poets, translations, essays, and culture and art criticism. Its editorial note notes with despair the prevailing dominance of middle-class, middle of the road, middling mediocrity of our arts and culture, and those who propagate it, who continue to proliferate like "African magur fish." Perhaps they meant the word 'piranhas' instead. And they offer their alternative to it. The result is a mixed one. Interesting reading are Ziaul Hasan's 'Beena Brittanto', a translation of an interview of novelist Carlos Fuentes, short stories by Tanvir Tazeb and Aditya Shaheen. There is an experimental read by Lubna Charja involving Tom and Jerry that might puzzle the bourgeoisie. Artwork by Shahinur Rahman seems at times to mock Dhakaites, their rat race. A compelling piece of self criticism can be found in K M Pathik's 'Little Magazine: Nijaykay nijayr biruddhay daar koriyay deyar ekti choloman prokriya.' Nishhorgo; Tk 50.00
This little magazine bills itself as a volume of alternative poetry -- an alternative to presumably the Bengali poetry prevalent today. As such it features four young poets, Ahmed Munir, Tariq Tuku, Tuhin Das, and Piyash Majid, each of whose complete 'book' of poems has been published. All of Piyash's efforts are prose poems. The poem 'Hemanta Sriti' by Munir begins thus: "Faces upon faces with faces beneath/While underneath that is mute talk/Within that talk's shadow is sweat and/Around that sweat are caterpillars..." A different note is struck in the editorial note where they accuse writer Mizan Rahman of lifting 13 of the 22 articles in the latter's book 'Dui Banglar Little Magazine Bhabna' thereby infringing Nisshorgo's copyrights, and end with the slogan 'May little magazines be free of all kinds of injustices.' Lekhabil; Tk. 40.00
This issue of Lekhabil is dedicated to Bauls, with a piece by well-known folk researcher Simon Zakaria on Sadhushongon rituals in Kushtia that ends with the reflection that a lot of urbanites are now taking an interest in holding such celebratory gatherings. The editorial note states that the works of all those presently working/researching Bauls are present in this volume. Among other remarkable pieces two are worth mentioning: one by Ahmed Deen on Baul Kamaluddin and his songs and the other one by Swapan Nath on Baul poet Giyasuddin Ahmed. The volume also contains an interesting 'manuscript' by Shipa Sultana, interesting not only for its content and style, but also for the fact that it is a woman writer, who are not seen within the confines of little magazines as much as one would like. There is also an interesting critical review section on the nineties poet Mujib Irom, where quite a few critics evaluate him from multiple directions, least not in the distance traversed from those "immediate post-indepence poets," in Chandan Saha Rai's words, "with their overlong diatribes, ultra nationalism and international slogan-mongering, depictions of women and love." Sadeeq Ahmed is a consultant/researcher.
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