The Hay-Makers

We caught up with four of the key people who are instrumental in putting together Hay Festival Dhaka 2014. In between their multi-tasking and coordination across borders, SLR was lucky enough to get a quick word with them.

Question: As Director of Hay Festival Dhaka and a prominent Bangladeshi author, why is this literary festival an important platform?

Tahmima Anam: Hay Dhaka brings the best contemporary novelists, historians, biographers, graphic novelists, short story writers, essayists, and publishers to Dhaka to meet our enthusiastic audience. It's a unique opportunity for writers who would otherwise only read about Bangladesh in the papers to get a taste of what Dhaka is all about – a vibrant, cultural city with great readers and a rich literary tradition. For our audience, it's a great chance to meet literary heroes and discover new writers. We are hugely enthusiastic about the project and are enjoying watching it go from strength to strength.

Question: As Director of Hay Festival Dhaka, what is your overlying vision for 2014 which is different from the last three years?

Sadaf Saaz Siddiqi: The overall vision for Hay Dhaka 2014 is to give a wealth of literary experiences through different expression of ideas and words – from elegant and beautifully constructed prose and plots, to the simplicity of telling a good story. We want to push the boundaries of knowledge by exploring science, mathematics and philosophy, as well as spiritual enquiry. This year, more than ever, we want to stimulate the imagination and the mind; making it a feast for literature lovers, as well as the young student who will be inspired to pick up a book. The idea is to take literature beyond an elite few, and make it engaging, accessible and relevant to a wider audience.

Question: As Hay Festival Dhaka Advisor, what initiatives have you taken to make it relevant for the Bangla readers and authors?

K. Anis Ahmed: This year our panels will focus on the language of poetry in the digital age, on both sides of Bengal. I myself will be on a panel this time to discuss what it means to be bilingual. And also embrace contemporary expressions that are reaching multitudes; from 'bhuter golpo' on Radio Foorti to Bangla rap. We plan to give space to languages that are at this point on an inexorable path to extinction; to hear those voices before they disappear forever.
We want Hay Dhaka to become a platform for vital expressions and critical questioning that go as deep into ourselves as widely out to the world. As the Festival Advisor, I tried to help widen this focus on local culture.

Question: As Associate Producer, how do you think Hay Festival Dhaka carves distinct boundaries for itself on the Global Literary map?

Ahsan Akbar: Bangladesh boasts a rich cultural and literary heritage that belongs to the broader civilisation of the Indian Subcontinent, but is also nourished by the unique history of struggles of the eastern half of Bengal. While Bangla literature enjoys an admirable richness, it has so far been under-engaged and under-represented in cross-border dialogues. Hay Festival Dhaka carves a distinct boundary by promoting Bangla literature on the Global Literary map, along with representing a generation of Bangladeshis who are now on the verge of asserting a new and more cosmopolitan idiom, through writing in English.