Parveen Shahnaz-Bangladesh-Selected Poems-Translated from Bangla by Kamrul Hassan

Preface Parveen Shahnaz is writing poems for the last 20 years, and so far, she has published four books of poems. This list includes Touching the Seawater, The Desolate Cloud, Water Collected on Folded Palms and The Ironclad Family of Stars. The titles of her books are quite poetic, and they resonate rhythmic sound affirming Shahnaz is predominantly a poet by heart. Her creative works, I am sure, have already drawn attention of the circle of poets and poetry-lovers in the country. In the present bilingual book, she has presented selected poems both in Bangla and their translation in English. This will bring laurels for her from home and abroad. I have found most of Shahnaz’s poems are one page in length and not overloaded with theory or concepts. These are more emotional in tone and written from heart, not head. These features perfectly match with what Buddhadeb Basu had prescribed as ideal forms of poetry to the poets of his time. As I read, I find love is the central theme of Shahna