Epic monologue ‘I am Sheikh Mujib’ wins Chinese award

Epic monologue ‘I am Sheikh Mujib’ has won a Chinese Literary Award this year.

It was announced on the 5th Boao International Poetry Award for outstanding "Annual Poetry Collection Award" on December 7 in Shanghai said a press release.

In order to prosper the creation of poetry in the world and promote the internationalisation of poetry, the 5th Boao International Poetry Award selection event was hosted by 10 organisations, including the Boao International Poetry Festival, the World Poetry Movement, and the Huang Yazhou Poetry Development Foundation.

Bengali-Swedish poet and playwright Anisur Rahman has written this epic monologue on the founding father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which was awarded together with four other significant poetry collections from different countries.

Other selections were ‘’All the Secrets in the World: Selected Poems of Liu Nian" (Chinese version) from China; Flew away at dawn by Mai Van Phan, Russian Chinese version, and I Am Sheikh Mujib, an epic monologue in English version by Anisur Rahman (Bangladesh/Sweden) "Selected Poems of Lv jin" (Chinese-English bilingual version) from China Torrent" (Chinese-English bilingual version) by Xu Yanying from China.

Chinese poet and editor Cao Shui has translated the epic monologue, ’I am Sheikh Mujib’ into Chinese.

The call for nominations started on May 15 and ended on September 15. On September 20, the organizing committee announced the shortlist for the preliminary evaluation of each award.

A total of 32 Chinese and foreign poetry collections were shortlisted for the preliminary evaluation of the "Annual Poetry Collection Award".

The award will be celebrated at the Boao International Poetry Festival in Shanghai on December 16 to 19. The Global Launch of the epic monologue, ‘I am Sheikh Mujib’ was held simultaneously in Bangladesh, Kenya, Sweden, UK and USA online on July 7.