<i>Kali O Kolom</i>
The striking cover of the October 2007 issue of Kali O Kolom is the work of Tarun Ghosh. Inside is the usual mix of pieces featuring art criticism, short stories, serialized fiction, plus Mohammed Zafar Iqbal's popular, and popularizing, science articles, which have justly earned him a degree of renown. There are also memoirs and reminiscences, among them a tribute to artist Nitun Kundu by Ramendu Majumdar titled 'Nitunda.' There is also the usual complement of poets and poems (one by Al Mahmud, among others), and an engrossing and discursive debate on literary modes and language being conducted by the journal's readers and writer Anisul Haq. The latest installment of this exchange is titled, aptly, 'Shorojontro'r kothata aami kothao boli nee.' Kali O Kolom has begun to showcase Bengali translations of foreign authors, and this volume is no exception, featuring as it does a translation of the anti-militaristic and leftist Finnish writer Pentii Haanaan. It is commendable that Kali O Kolom is introducing to Bengali readers such writers with universalist appeal, who yet remain obscure due to reasons of access and language. However, from the author bio supplied at the end of the translated short story, it seems that the Bengali translation has been done of an English translation of the Finnish original, and perhaps it would have been proper for the translator/editor to make this fact of double translation clear. The issue also contains an extended retrospect of the Ingmar Bergman, who has long considered one of the greatest film directors of all time. Though the famed Swedish director died in July of this year and is a favourite among discerning Bangladeshi art movie lovers and aficionados, his death passed by unmentioned over here. Kali O Kolom's essays make up for this relative neglect. A continuing delight are the black-and-white illustrations by well-known Bangladeshi artists that now form a distinct leitmotif inside this literary journal. Muneem Rahman is a government officer.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments