Outskirts Press, INC.

Kazi Nazrul Islam stands as one of the most dynamic literary voices of the twentieth century, harmonizing fiery rebellion with profound romantic sensibility. His insurgent poems thunder against oppression and injustice. But at the same time his devotional and dolesome luminous Bengali ghazal lyrics, flavored with Persian aesthetics and unprecedented musical grace, bespeak his poetic excellence. This further attests to Nazrul’s romantic temperament and artistic mastery. Alongside his poetry, Nazrul’s narrative prose ‘Bliss beyond Death’ reveals the restless, experimental minds; it probes into the details of social inequity, indigence, hunger, death and love. It also extends the ethics, stubborn religious dogmatism, passion, emotions and humanity of those people living in a small community at the outskirts of a small town; they had hardly primary level education, offering an intimate portrait of sufferings in their day to day life. Furthermore, this volume situates Nazrul within a global literary constellation through comparative analyses of poems—Nazrul’s poems with the poems of great nineteenth- and twentieth-century poets of the world. These juxtapositions illuminate shared currents of romantic idealism, revolutionary humanism, mystical longing, and lyrical innovation. Together, this volume speaks with urgent relevance to human freedom, beauty, and dignity across cultures and centuries.