Midnight, Dhaka

Overview

Mir Mahfuz Ali is an exceptional new voice in British poetry; native of what is now Bangladesh, Mahfuz grew up during the difficult period of the early 1970s when the region was struck, first by a devastating cyclone, then by a particularly vicious civil war. As a boy, Mahfuz witnessed atrocities and writes about them with a searing directness in poems like “My Salma†and the title poem. But much more than this, his trauma becomes transformative, and his poetry the key to unlocking memories of a childhood that are rich in nuance, gorgeous in detail, and evocative of a beautiful country. They celebrate the human capacity for love, survival and renewal.

Reviews

“Mir Mahfuz Ali breaks new ground by reviving the Bengali lyric tradition and writing it in English, but what strikes me most is his linguistic freshness, the sensuous particulars of his descriptions blended with the force of these intense and sometimes shocking poems of trauma and witness from first hand experience of conflict. He brings a Bengali lyricism, influenced by Tagore’s singing lines, into English poetics, so that however dark the subject, his poems have a soaring quality, and it is this, matched with the powerful material, that makes his verse unique. His work is full of passionate particulars, sensuous details and raw emotion.† —Pascale Petit, poet and author, The Zoo Father

Author Biography

Mir Mahfuz Ali has worked as a male model, a tandoori chef, and as a dancer and actor. He is renowned for his extraordinary voice and has given readings and performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and elsewhere; on BBC Newsnight Review, Radio 4, and the World Service. His poetry has appeared in London Magazine, Poetry London, Poetry Review, and PN Review.