Two poets were awarded with Jibanananda Purushkar 2013 in a commemorative programme organised marking the 59th death anniversary of Jibanananda Das on Friday in Barisal, the birth place of the poet.
Renowned poet Asad Chowdhury, who is also from Barisal, handed over the prizes to the late poet Khondakar Ashraf Hossain and Shantanu Kaisar
for his prose works.Shimul Tasnim on behalf of her late father Khondakar Ashraf Hossain received the prize.
The festival was jointly organised by Adda and Dhansiri of Barisal, Sahitya Saikat of Jhalakathi, and little magazine Durba published from Gopalganj.
The inaugural session held in the morning at Jibanananda Angan, the house of the poet, began with placing flower wreaths on his portrait, followed by poetry recitation and discussion.
Poet Asad Chowdhury was the chief guest of the morning session and poet Belal Chowdhury inaugurated the programme which was presided over by poet Shamim Reza.
The second session was held in the afternoon at the conference hall of Barisal University that was presided over by poet Belal Chowdhury, head of the prize selection committee.
Poet Asad Chowdhury was the chief guest of this session and professor Muhammad Mohsin, Arif Hossain Shamim Reza and others were present at the programme.
Poet Khandokar Ashraf Hossain received the award as the author of nine collections of poems and 14 prose books including essays, literary criticisms, translations of poems, dramas and essays which are considered to be valuable contribution to the contemporary literature of Bangladesh.
And poet Shantanu Kaisar was awarded the Jibanananda Purshkar as the author of two collections of poems, five books and 11 research works on the life and works of contemporary literary personalities, philosophers, three collections of short stories, three plays, two novels and others.
Despite the fact that Jibanananda was from Barisal introduced modernism in Bangla literature, the state has done nothing but releasing a postal-stamp to recognise his talent, the speakers lamented.
They demanded the state recognition of the poet, implementation of the Dhanshiri River eco park project, as the river is connected with his life, works and memories. They also demanded the establishment of museums, memorials and sculptures of the poet in important places in Barisal.
The speakers elaborated that more study and research on Jibanananda’s life and achievements should be initiated by the government.
Born on February 17, 1899, Jibanananda Das, a teacher of English in Barisal and Kolkata, is arguably the most influential romantic poet of the post-Tagore era. He died in a road accident on October 22, 1954 in Kolkata.
-With New Age input
