Poet Abul Hussain’s 6th death anniversary Monday

The sixth death anniversary of poet Abul Hussain – a pioneer of modernism in Bengali poetry –will be observed on Monday. He breathed his last at the age of 92 in 2014.

Hussain was a highly-acclaimed Bangladeshi poet who was recognised as the first modern Bengali poet in Bangladesh. He was the leading exponent of modernism in Bangladeshi poetry.

He expresses his verse in a cynical and anguished mood that reflects his lifelong search for a philosophical and religious position from which to analyse and comprehend individual life in relation to society, the political instability and economic uncertainties in his country, and his suspicion of progress without human feeling.

Hussain was the author of 25 books. He was born in Khulna, a southern district in Bangladesh, in 1922, said a press release.

He studied Economics at the then Calcutta Presidency College and Calcutta University. For more than three decades thereafter he worked in national and international organisations, at home and abroad, as a civil servant.

At the same time, he was a major Bengali author, excelling both in poetry and prose. He was awarded state and other national prizes for his poetic work. He also represented his country in literary conferences and festivals in Belgium, USSR, Yugoslavia and India.

Hussain travelled widely in Asia, Europe, USSR and the USA.

His first book of poems was Naba-Basanta. Others are Birash Sanglap (1969), Duswapna Theke Duswapne (1985), Haoa Tomar Kee Dussahos (1982), Ekhono Somoy Ache (1997), Aar Kisher Opekkha (2000), Kaler Khatae (2008) and Selected Poems of Abul Hussain (1986).

Hussain received many awards including the Ekushey Padak, the Bangla Academy Award, the Padabali Award and The Nasiruddin Gold Medal.