ULAB launches Literary Salon

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh’s (ULAB) Department of English and Humanities kicked off a university-based literary event named ‘ULAB Literary Salon’ recently.

The inaugural event featured a father-daughter poet duo, both of whom are ULABians. ULAB Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities professor Shamsad Mortuza and his daughter Southeast University English Lecturer Arshi Mortuza recited poetry and discussed what inspires them to write and create, ULAB said in a statement.

Presided over by professor Kaiser Haq, poet, critic, academic and mentor to the ULAB Literary Salon, the event was moderated by Sudeep Chakravarti, writer, researcher and associate professor at the Department of Media Studies and Journalism and the Department of English and Humanities at ULAB.

The readings and discussion were followed by a question-and-answer session. Members of the audience expressed interest in finding out more about the poets’ experience with writer’s block and writing for an audience as well as with writing for one’s family.

The ULAB Literary Salon aims to offer a space for literature enthusiasts in Dhaka and around the country to come together and celebrate literature. Each month, ULAB Literary Salon will organize book launches, book readings, author signings, discussions with authors and publishers, and present a meeting hub for writers, editors and academics in ULAB’s centrally located Research Building on Satmasjid Road at Dhanmondi in Dhaka.

The next Literary Salon event, scheduled for June 18, 2022, will launch Saad Z Hossain’s latest science fiction novel Cyber Mage which is being published by ULAB Press.

The event was attended by a large audience comprising students and faculty of ULAB as well as guests from all around Dhaka, the statement added.