Photo: Tahmima Anam
Monday 21 November at British Council, Dhaka
In association with Qatar Airways and The Daily Star
Sample chapters from authors at Hay Festival Dhaka:
Uncharted by Jon Gower
Download Prologue & Chapter 1 (pdf)
Diamond Star Halo by Tiffany Murray
Download Chapter 1 (pdf)
Pure by Andrew Miller
Download Chapter 1 (pdf)
A one-day pilot festival bringing together writers and thinkers from Bangladesh and Britain to share stories and ideas in the spirit of Rabindranath Tagore in this his 150th anniversary year.
Photographs from Hay Festival Dhaka View 2011 programme
In 2011, for the first time in its 25-year history, the Hay Festival has travelled to Dhaka, Bangladesh. The South Asian city was host to a programme of readings, book launches, and literary panels in the grounds of the British Council on the Dhaka University campus.
Recent coverage
A Creative Stirring in Dhaka, Zafar Sobhan in The Sunday Guardian
Hay Festival: Finding a voice in India and Bangladesh – Lorna Bradbury in The Telegraph
Bangladeshi writers turn to English at Hay Dhaka – Lorna Bradbury in The Telegraph
Making Hay in Dhaka, Karim Waheed in The Daily Star
The Daily Star, 23 November 2011
The Daily Star, 19 November 2011
Bangladesh: Bringing Hay-on-Wye to Dhaka, blog by Rosemary Arnott, British Council Director Bangladesh
Over 700 visitors were treated to a series of events that included a lecture by BBC anchor Nik Gowing, a discussion on the art of translation with Welsh writer Jon Gower, and events that celebrated the rich literary heritage of Bangladesh. Well-known Bangladeshi novelists Selina Hossain, Fakrul Alam and Niaz Zaman shared a stage with British and Welsh authors Jon Gower, Tiffany Murray, Andrew Miller and Jan Blake.
Authors read to packed audiences who were eager to share their enthusiasm for books. Many spoke about their love of literature and their excitement at having an international panel of writers with whom they could interact and engage.
At the end of the day, both audience members and writers were left wanting more, and the Hay Festival hopes to continue what it has begun here – an important dialogue about books, how they engage with both the historical past and the urgent present, and how Bangladesh, 150 years after the birth of the great poet Rabindranath Tagore, can once again become a centre for world literature.
This felt like an extraordinary moment and focus for the English language writers in Bangladesh and perhaps for post-1971 Bengali writing too; and it’s a real turning point for the Hay Festival team. We’ve never had such a thrilling debut anywhere. I think we’ve all fallen for the city, and were captivated by the robust intellectual energy and joy of the audiences. At a stroke, it’s leapt up the list of our international priorities and aspirations for development.”Peter Florence, Director Hay Festivals
Among those taking part were Tagore translator and litterateur Fakrul Alam, journalists Mahfuz Anam and Lorna Bradbury, Festival Counsellor and novelist Tahmima Anam, writer and columnist Farah Ghuznavi, storyteller Jan Blake, Hay Festival Director Peter Florence, author and publisher Niaz Zaman, bilingual novelists Jon Gower and Syed Manzoorul Islam, British Council Literature Director Susanna Nicklin, literary critic Firdous Azim, cultural activist and researcher Lubna Marium, teaching artist Naila Azad, poet Kaiser Haq, novelists Andrew Miller, Tiffany Murray, Shazia Omar and special guest, leading feminist author Selina Hossain.
Read interview with Selina Hossain, ‘in conversation’ in The Daily Star.
Read article by Festival Counsellor Tahmima Anam in The Telegraph.
The event took place in and around the grounds of The British Council, Fuller Road, Dhaka 1000.
Entry to the events was free.
