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Shamim Azad

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Native name
  
শামীম আজাদ

Citizenship
  
British

Language
  
Bengali, English

Name
  
Shamim Azad

Nationality
  
Bangladeshi

Role
  
Poet

Ethnicity
  
Bengali


Shamim Azad wwwpoemhuntercomip911630191b1648jpg

Born
  
Shamim Azad 11 November 1952 (age 71) Mymensingh, Dhaka, East Bengal (now Bangladesh) (
1952-11-11
)

Occupation
  
Poet, storyteller, writer

Education
  
Kumudini College, University of Dhaka

Rupantar poet shamim azad emdad haque with punam priyam


Shamim Azad (Bengali: শামীম আজাদ; born 11 November 1952) is a Bangladeshi-born British bilingual poet, storyteller and writer.

Contents

Shamim Azad Shamim Azad exiled

Rupantor poet shamim azad special birthday episode with punam priyam


Early life

Azad was born in Mymensingh, Dhaka, East Bengal (now Bangladesh) (the town where her father worked), her hometown was Sylhet. She passed her Metric from Jamalpur Girls High School in 1967 and passed her Intermediate from Tangail Kumudini College in 1969. She enrolled in Dhaka University and gained an Honours degree in 1972 and a master's degree in 1973.

In 1990, Azad came to England.

Career

Azad's work ranges from Bangladeshi to European folktales. Her performance fuses the lines between education and entertainment and her workshops are rooted in Asian folk, oral traditions and heritage.

Azad has published 14 books including novels, collections of short stories, essays and poems in both English and Bengali and has been included in various anthologies including British South Asian Poetry, My Birth Was Not in Vain, Velocity,Emlit Project and Mother Tongues. She wrote two plays for Half Moon Theatre. She has worked with composers Richard Blackford, Kerry Andrew, choreographer Rosemary Lee, visual artist Robin Whitemore and playwright Mary Cooper.

She has performed at venues including the Museum of London, Cambridge Water Stone, Liberty Radio, Battersea Arts Centre, Lauderdale House, the Commonwealth Institute, British Library, British Council of Bangladesh, Takshila in Pakistan and New York. Her residencies have included, Tower Hamlets Summer University, Sunderland City Library and Arts Centre, East Side Arts, Poetry Society, Magic Me, Rich Mix, Kinetika, Bromley by Bow Centre, Half Moon Theatre, and Apples and Snakes.

Azad is a trustee of charity One World Action and Rich Mix in Bethnal Green, London. She is a school governor and chairperson of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro (World Literature Centre) in London. She is part of the East storytelling group, which invites local residents to join in sharing some of the stories brought together by the Eastend's rich, diverse history of immigration.

Awards

Azad received the Bangladesh "Bichitra Award" in 1994, "Year of the Artist" Award from London Arts in 2000, "Sonjojon- A Rouf" Award in 2004, and UK "Civic Award" in 2004. In 2016, she was nominated for the "Syed Waliullah Literature Award" which is conferred by the Bangla Academy.

Personal life

Azad lives in Wanstead, Redbridge, London.

References

Shamim Azad Wikipedia