When we are at the verge of the third decade of the twenty first century, and watching about more than ten thousand books getting published every year in Canada, it seems somewhat unbelievable that during the fifties of the last century the picture of Canadian book publishing world was very grieving. Later on, the situation changed and the changes were mostly felt in the literary arena.
Toronto is one of the major cities of the North America where thousands of Bengalis live in. From Bengali populace point of view, Toronto is most probably second to New York in the North American zone. Like the Bengalis of NY, Torontonian Bengalis do have vibrant community activities among which literary initiatives are also worth mentioning.
In the year 2014, when I first met Dr. Dilip Chakraborty, he was only 77. I was then completing my 50th and it was my maiden year in Canada. Every week I would get opportunities to meet many new people, and successfully utilise my time in networking with them. One day Sujit Kusum Paul, who was by then not yet recognised as a Yeats scholar,
To an immigrant Canadian, it is really a very tough question ‘Which are the best novels in Canadian Literature’ or ‘Who are the most celebrated poets of the country?’ or ‘Who are the most loved Canadian memoirists?’ or ‘Which playwrights overwhelmed the nation?’ Is it at all easy to reply for an immigrant ‘Which are the frequently uttered poetic lines written in the Canadian soil?’
I had heard the name of the fiction writer Salma Bani (b. 1962) much before I left Dhaka for Toronto in August 2013. Though during my Dhaka days, possibly unfortunately I did never come across any of Bani’s (Salma is mostly known as Bani than by her first name) books, I considered myself really fortunate when in Toronto a book of hers came on my hand.
Dr. Dilip Chakraborty, a Bengali living in Brampton of Ontario of Canada, has earned much fame among the expatriate Bengali community for his unparallel zeal, extraordinary knowledge and enthusiastic involvement. An outstanding orator, Dilip, who was born in 1937 in Madaripur of Bangladesh, did his higher education in India and had taught English literature for decades.
Subrata Kumar Das How is to about the history of Canada? How are its systems and practices? How are the dos and don’ts? Certainly it would be excellent if the writer presents all those information in a language befitting for a fiction? And no doubt that would more exciting if the writer uses Bengali as…