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In Celebration of Shamim Azad

| Tuesday, 11 November 2025 | Print

In Celebration of Shamim Azad

David Lee Morgan

I first met Shamim Azad at Altab Ali Park on May 4th, when we were both invited to write poems for that year’s Altab Ali commemoration. Shamim’s poem told the story of Altab Ali, who he was, what his death meant to the community, and how it inspired a generation to rise up and fight against the fascist attacks on Bengalis and other minorities in 1970s Britain. It was a good way to meet Shamim, because the poem epitomised so many of the elements that have made her famous and deeply loved in the Bengali community and beyond: her finely honed craft as a poet and as a storyteller, and also her commitment to the community and to education.

Shamim has a powerful work ethic, having published 37 books and still counting, including novels, collections of short stories, essays and poems in both English and Bengali. She’s been collected in numerous anthologies. In the midst of all this, she has always found the time to support other writers, especially the young – and as I have experienced personally – those new to the community. Shamim has founded, guided and served on the boards of numerous organisations, to name just a few: Bards Without Borders, Exiled Writers Ink, the East-end-based storytelling group, ‘EAST’, British Bangladeshi poetry collective (BBPC), and the Bishwo Shahitto Kendro (World Literature Centre).

In a more perfect world, teaching would be considered the highest art form, far beyond music, dance, literature… because you are working with the most precious of all materials, not wood or paint or sound or even words, but with young human minds. In a more perfect world, Shamim’s reputation would be even greater than it already is, because throughout her life, she has used her tremendous talents and abilities to celebrate the traditions and accomplishments of the common people of many cultures, her own Bengali community for sure, but also the many wonderful cultures from all over the world that have come to settle in this particular corner of it.

In a world where sociopathic wannabe leaders are promoting ignorance and hate to gin up their own sordid little careers, Shamim’s life and work represent everything they fear most: courage, hard work, and awesome talent powered by great love.