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Identifying the book
The anthology is a printed poetry book, not a film. Use the full title or the ISBN when you search for it or order it, because the title is long and similar listings may circulate.
| Detail | Entry |
|---|---|
| Title | Arise out of the Lock: 50 Bangladeshi Women Poets in English |
| Translator | Nabina Das |
| Curator | Alam Khorshed |
| Publisher | Balestier Press |
| Publication date | 21 February 2022 |
| ISBN | 9781913891145 |
| Language of the text | English translations of poetry written in Bangla |
| Bangla originals included | Not established by the publisher page or the 2022 reporting; do not assume they are printed alongside the translations |
The publisher and The Daily Star both place the book’s publication in the context of International Mother Language Day and the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence. That framing explains the timing; it does not define the anthology’s selection, which the publisher describes in terms of poets and years rather than a single national or literary theme.
Who made the anthology
Nabina Das is the translator. Alam Khorshed is the curator, responsible for choosing which poets and poems appear. Readers who want to know how the selection was made should look for the curator’s introduction in the printed book, because the publisher’s page and the press coverage do not describe the selection method in detail.
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A 2022 review in Cha reports that the translator’s note acknowledges difficulty locating LGBTQ voices in a literary milieu where they are treated as taboo. The same note expresses interest in including poets from Bangladesh’s indigenous communities in future work. The review attributes these points to the note; they describe the translator’s stated aims and limits, not a count or audit of who is represented in the book.
Generations and locations
The anthology is intergenerational and diasporic by design. Its scope, as stated on the publisher’s page, includes poets based in Bangladesh and abroad and work from the country’s first 50 years. Scroll’s excerpt from the foreword makes the same point, describing the poets as women writing in Bangla who emerged from the land now Bangladesh, including those who live or have lived there and first-generation diaspora.
Established and contemporary names
The Daily Star names several figures among the collection’s examples: Sufia Kamal, Anwara Syed Huq, Farida Majid, Jahanara Parveen, Jharna Rahman, Novera Hossain, and Leesa Gazi. Naming them here shows the range of the collection’s reach, but it is a sample taken from press reporting, not a full table of contents.
Themes described by critics and the publisher
Cha’s review describes nature and Bangladeshi culture as among the collection’s concerns. Deborah Smith’s endorsement on the publisher’s page points to flowers and fabric, along with Islamic and Hindu mythological references. Both are attributed critical observations. Neither is a complete account of every poem, and readers should treat them as entry points rather than a summary of the book’s contents.
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Endorsements printed by the publisher
The publisher’s page reproduces an endorsement from Vivek Narayanan, identified there as a poet, author of Life and Times of Mr S, and professor of creative writing at George Mason University:
“So often South Asian poetry feels to me like a body with severed limbs, all inaccessible to each other. This anthology is both healing of that and a recognition; with the very force of its thought and its omnivorous cosmopolitanism, it will defy every stereotype you try to bring to it. A project like this would be essential for any translator to take up, but as a poet Nabina Das goes beyond the call and makes it sing.”
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The same page reproduces an endorsement from Deborah Smith, identified as the translator of The Vegetarian by Han Kang:
“Though demonstrating an impressive range, with poets based in Bangladesh and abroad, writing from the full 50 years since the country’s creation, this is clearly only a glimpse at a wealth of literature which, it is to be hoped, other publishers will now be inspired to seek out.”
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These are promotional endorsements printed by the publisher, not independent findings. The book’s figures for readership, sales, and representation are not established by any source reviewed for this article, so the number 50 should be read as the anthology’s stated count and scope only.
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What the anthology does not establish
- It is not presented as an exhaustive survey of Bangladeshi women’s poetry. Smith’s endorsement itself calls it “only a glimpse.”
- It does not, by the translator’s own account in the 2022 review, fully represent LGBTQ poets or indigenous communities; both are named as gaps the project hoped to address in future work.
- No representation rate, readership figure, or sales statistic has been published that this article can cite.
- Whether the Bangla originals appear alongside the English texts is not established. Check the book itself or the publisher before assuming they do.
Availability and buying
The Daily Star reported in 2022 that the book could be ordered on Amazon. Current stock, retailer listings, and territorial availability were not confirmed for this article. Check the publisher’s page for the current listing, then search for the ISBN 9781913891145 to confirm you are buying the Balestier Press edition.
The anthology is most useful to readers who want an English-language introduction to a wide span of Bangladeshi women poets across generations, with the translator’s and curator’s choices and the book’s acknowledged gaps kept in view.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
