A felicitation ceremony was held on 10 January 2026 at the Shamsur Rahman Seminar Hall of Bangla Academy to mark the 58th birthday of poet and postcolonial theorist Fayaz Alam, celebrating his creative journey and contributions to Bangladesh’s literary and intellectual landscape.
The event, titled “Fayaz Alam: His Creative Journey,” was jointly organised by Dhaka Report 24, Bangalmel, Saralrekha, Biography Foundation, Bookworm Society and Kavyaswar. Bangla Academy President and educationist Professor Abul Kasem Fazlul Haque and Md Fazlur Rahman, Chairman of Janata Bank and CSP, attended as honoured guests.
Speeches were delivered by writers and scholars including Abu Said Tulu, poet and storyteller Johra Parul, Khalil Majid, Zahir Hasan, Raju Ahmed Mamun, Mamun Khan, Imran Mahfuz, Mamun Azad and Rici Dalai, editor of Littlemag. Poetry recitations were performed by Anwar Parvez, Murad Hasan, Ikhlas Khan of Kavyaswar, and Shahjahan, an official of Janata Bank.
The ceremony drew more than 150 literature enthusiasts, including classmates, colleagues and admirers of Alam, and featured the screening of a documentary on his life and literary work, followed by readings, recitations and dramatizations of his poems. The celebration concluded with a birthday cake cutting.
Speakers highlighted Alam’s role as a postcolonial thinker and independent literary voice whose three decades of writing have offered new perspectives on the colonial experience and its enduring effects on knowledge, culture and literary practice. They noted his pioneering use of colloquial Bangla as a literary medium, a movement gaining ground nationally.
Alam’s published works include Bhashar Upnobesh: Bangla Bhashar Rupantorer Itihas, which advocates for representing diverse vernacular traditions in writing, and Bangalir Itihas Charchar Pather Kata, a recent collection of research essays in colloquial Bangla.
To date, he has authored five poetry collections — Byaktir Mrityu O Khap Khawa Manush, Jolchape Lekha, Raiter Age Ekta Gan, Amare Urao Dhula and Jokhon Ruhure Haraya Feli — and six essay collections — Prachin Bangali Samaj O Sanskriti, Uttor-Upnobeshi Mon, Bhasha, Khomota O Amader Ladai Prosongo, Buddhijibi, Tar Day O Bangalir Buddhibrttik Dasotto, Bhashar Upnobesh: Bangla Bhashar Rupantorer Itihas, and Bangalir Itihas Charchar Pather Kata. His translation works include key texts by Edward Said, including Orientalism and Covering Islam, and selected works of Jacques Derrida and Edward Said.
Speakers lauded Alam’s enduring contribution to critical thought and postcolonial literary discourse in Bangladesh.
