Meer Syed Mosharraf Hossain was a Bengali writer, novelist, playwright and essayist. He is considered to be the first major writer to emerge from the Muslim society of Bengal, and one of the finest prose writers in the Bengali language. His magnum opus Bishad Sindhu is a popular classic among the Bengali readership.
The Bangla Academy is an autonomous institution funded by the Bangladesh government that fosters the Bengali language, literature and culture, works to develop and implement national language policy and to do original research in the Bengali language. Established in 1955, it is located in Burdwan House in Shahbagh, Dhaka, within the grounds of the University of Dhaka and Suhrawardy Udyan. The Bangla Academy hosts the annual Ekushey Book Fair.
Abdullah Abu Sayeed is a Bangladeshi educator, writer, television presenter, and activist. He is the founder and chairman of Bishwa Sahitya Kendra, a non-profit organization that promotes the study of literature, reading habits and progressive ideas.
The Bangla Academy Literary Award, is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius in advancement and overall contribution in the field of Bengali language and literature.
Bengali literature denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time and dynastic patronization or non-patronization. Bengali has developed over the course of roughly 1,300 years. If the emergence of the Bengali literature supposes to date back to roughly 650 AD, the development of Bengali literature claims to be 1600 years old. The earliest extant work in Bengali literature is the Charyapada, a collection of Buddhist mystic songs in Old Bengali dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries. The timeline of Bengali literature is divided into three periods: ancient (650–1200), medieval (1200–1800) and modern. Medieval Bengali literature consists of various poetic genres, including Hindu religious scriptures, Islamic epics, Vaishnava texts, translations of Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit texts, and secular texts by Muslim poets. Novels were introduced in the mid-19th century. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore is the best known figure of Bengali literature to the world. Kazi Nazrul Islam, notable for his activism and anti-British literature, was described as the Rebel Poet and is now recognised as the National poet of Bangladesh.
Syed Shamsul Haq was a Bangladeshi writer. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1966, Ekushey Padak in 1984 and Independence Day Award in 2000 by the Government of Bangladesh for his contributions to Bangla literature. His notable works include "Payer Awaj Pawa Jai", "Nishiddho Loban", "Khelaram Khele Ja", "Neel Dongshon" and "Mrigoya".
Ahmed Sofa was a Bangladeshi writer, thinker, novelist, poet, philosopher and public intellectual. Sofa is considered by many, including National Professor Abdur Razzaq and Salimullah Khan, to be the most important Bengali Muslim writer after Mir Mosharraf Hossain and Kazi Nazrul Islam. A writer by occupation, Sofa wrote 18 non-fiction books, 8 novels, 4 collections of poems, 2 collections of short stories, and several books in other genres.
Bimal Guha is a Bangladeshi poet. He appeared on the Bangladesh literary scene in the 1970s. His themes revolve around the war of liberation and the eternal subjects of love, nature, motherland, mother-tongue, tradition, and modernity.
Syed Abul Maksud was a Bangladeshi journalist, columnist, research scholar, essayist, and writer. He was acclaimed for his critical and research work. He was a regular contributor to the Daily Prothom Alo. His essays on literature, society, culture and politics are much appreciated for his clear view, lucid language and simple style. He carried out substantive research works on "the lives of famous litterateurs such as Rabindranath Tagore, Buddhadeva Bose", Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Syed Waliullah etc. His Journal of Germany is a popular travel book. In 1995, he was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award by Bangla Academy for his contributions to Bengali Literature.
Shahid Quadri was a Bangladeshi poet and writer. For his poetry, he was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1973 and Ekushey Padak in 2011. His notable poems include "Uttoradhikar", "Tomake Obhibadon Priyotoma", "Kothao Kono Krondon Nei" and "Amar Chumbongulo Poucchey Dao".
Zillur Rahman Siddiqui was a Bangladeshi writer, academic and educationist.
Ruposhi Bangla is the most popular collection of poems by Jibanananda Das, the great modern Bengali poet. Written in 1934, the sixty-two sonnets - discovered in an exercise-book twenty years after Das wrote them - achieved instant popularity on their posthumous publication in 1957, becoming a totemic symbol of freedom in Bangladesh's 1971 War of Independence. In Ruposhi Bangla, Das seamlessly blends in both real and mythical historical figures, as well as mythical creatures such as the shuk bird, weaving a tapestry of a beautiful, dreamlike Bengal The poems celebrate the beauty of Barishal. In these poems infused with a scent of unrequited love, Jibanananda Das captured his country's soul through evocations of village life and natural beauty. Satyajit Ray designed the cover of 1957 edition.
Go where you will – I shall remain on Bengal’s shore
Shall see jackfruit leaves dropping in the dawn’s breeze;
Shall see the brown wings of shalik chill in the evening,
Its yellow leg under the white down goes on dancing
In the grass, darkness – once, twice – and then suddenly
The forest’s oak beckons it to its heart’s side,
Shall see sad feminine hands – white conch-bangles
Crying like conch shells in the ash-grey wind:
She stands on the pond’s side in the evening,
As if she will take the parched rice hued duck
To some land of legends –
As if the fragrance of the quiltcover clings to her body,
As if she is born out of watercress in the pond’s nest –
Washes her feet silently – then goes faraway, traceless
In the fog – yet I know I shall not lose her
In the crowd of the earth –
She is there on my Bengal’s shore.
Sadat Hossain is a Bangladeshi author, poet, screenwriter, film-maker and novelist. He described himself as a storyteller.
Mohammad Asaddor Ali, was a Bangladeshi writer, researcher and historian. His research primarily focused on the history of Sylhet. Due to his achievements, he was awarded the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2004. His research discovered unknown information about Sylheti folk literature, and he wrote 19 books relating to it.
Mashrur Arefin is a Bangladeshi writer, novelist, poet, translator and banker. He is known for his Bengali translation of Homer’s Iliad and Franz Kafka's stories, and his novels, August Abchchaya and Althusser (2020). He received the BRAC Bank-Samakal Literature Award for his translation of Franz Kafka's stories in 2013, he won the Gemcon Shahitya Puroshkar 2020 for his first novel August Abchhaya. and he received IFIC Bank Literary Award 2019 for the novel August Abchaya.
Muhammad Enam-Ul Haque was a Bangladeshi academician, historian and writer who served as the fourth vice-chancellor of Islamic University, Bangladesh from May 9, 1995, to September 2, 1997. He was also a professor in the Department of Islamic History and Culture at Chittagong University.
Khan Sahib Syed Muhammad Afzal was a Bengali politician. He served as a member of both the Bengal Legislative Council and the Bengal Legislative Assembly. Afzal was noted an early supporter of the Bengali language movement.
Nesaruddin Ahmad was a Bengali Islamic scholar, spiritual reformer, educationist and writer. He was the main disciple of Furfura Sharif's Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique in eastern Bengal. Ahmad was the inaugural Pir of Sarsina, having founded the Sarsina Darbar Sharif and Darussunnat Kamil Madrasa in 1915, one of the largest Islamic institutions in South Bengal and the first major alia madrasah after Calcutta. Ahmad was among the leading Islamic leaders in colonial Barisal, and his influence extended across Bengal. The Nesarabad Upazila of Bangladesh has been named after him.
Sadhana Ahmed is a Bangladeshi playwright, screenwriter, performing artist and a fellow of Bangla Academy in Bangladesh. She was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award (2021) by the government of Bangladesh.
Faruk Mahmud is a Bangladeshi poet and journalist, he won Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2022. He post graduated from Dhaka University.
