Tarfia Faizullah is a Bangladeshi American poet. Born in 1980, she was raised in

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the desert climate, arid and semiarid climate, semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Texa ...

. She traveled to

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in 2010 to interview survivors of rape by Pakistani soldiers during the

1971 Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which resulted in the independence ...

, the birangona. ''Seam'' (SIU, 2014), her first book, was a collection of poems that were inspired by the many interviews she had with the birangona; and won the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition Awards Her writing has also appeared widely in media across the US and abroad and has appeared in many journalistic media such as

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. In 2016,

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

included Faizullah in their list of 50 Women Inspiring Change

Life

Tarfia Faizullah is a

Bengali American Bengali Americans () are Americans, American nationals or residents who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. They trace their ancestry to the historic ethnolinguistic region of Bengal region, now divided between Ba ...

poet. Born in 1980 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

; she was raised in Midland,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. She earned an MFA from the

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...

program in creative writing. In 2006, after attending a poetry panel at the University of Texas at Austin which featured the Bengali author Mahmud Rahman. He had translated an excerpt of a novel, ''Talaash'', by a writer named Shaheen Akhtar, which described the life of a woman who had been raped by Pakistani soldiers during the

. This historical event inspired her to begin researching the women affected by it. After applying and receiving a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

, she traveled to

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, in 2010 to interview survivors of these atrocities, whom the Bengali government has dubbed birangona. Seam (SIU, 2014), her first book, was a collection of poems that were inspired by the many interviews she had with the birangona. Her second book, Registers of Illuminated Villages (Graywolf Press, 2018), was in development for 15 years and discusses many personal themes; it interrogates questions of memory, faith and locations beyond Bangladesh. Until 2019 she served at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

's Helen Zell Writers’ Program as the Nicholas Delbanco Visiting Professor in Poetry.

Works

*''Seam'', Southern Illinois University Press, 2014, *''Registers of Illuminated Villages: Poems'', Gray Wolf Press, 2018, In Anthology *''Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology'', University of Georgia Press, 2018, *''Halal If You Hear Me'' Haymarket, 2019,

Awards

*''Associated Writers Program Intro Journals Award'' *''Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Prize'' *''Copper Nickel Poetry Contest'' (2012) *''Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Margaret Bridgman Scholarship in Poetry'' *''Sewanee Writers’ Conference scholarship'' *''

Fulbright fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

'' * Three ''

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

s'' *'

Ploughshares ''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, ''Ploughshares'' has been based at Emerson College in Bost ...

’ Cohen Award. * Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition Awards

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Faizullah , Tarfia 1980 births Living people 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers Virginia Commonwealth University alumni Poets from Michigan Poets from New York (state) American women poets University of Michigan faculty Writers from Brooklyn Writers from Detroit American women academics 21st-century American women academics