Femmes: Poèmes d'amour et de combat

by Taslima Nasrin, Taslima Nasreen

Collection of poetry on women, dowry, rape,social problems, family. Beautiful and sensitive, yet so provocative that this work along with her other writings have generated a call in Bangladesh for her execution for blasphemy. A leader in feminist action and nonviolent movements. includes some color plates by Rabindranath Tagore.

Genres: Poetry, Feminism

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Taslima Nasrin (Bengali: তসলিমা নাসরিন) is an award-winning Bangladeshi writer, physician, secular humanist and human rights activist, known for her powerful writings on women oppression and unflinching criticism of religion, despite forced exile and multiple fatwas calling for her death. Early in her literary career, she wrote mainly poetry, and published half a dozen collections of poetry between 1982 and 1993, often with female oppression as a theme. She started publishing prose in the early 1990s, and produced three collections of essays and four novels before the publication of her 1993 novel Lajja (Bengali: লজ্জা Lôjja), or Shame. Because of her thoughts and ideas she has been banned, blacklisted and banished from Bengal, both from Bangladesh and West Bengal part of India. Since fleeing Bangladesh in 1994, she has lived in many countries, and lives in United States as of July 2016. Nasrin has written 40 books in Bengali, which includes poetry, essays, novels and autobiography series. Her works have been translated in thirty different languages. Some of her books are banned in Bangladesh.'

Reviews

[Nisha Sadasivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by the controversial feminist poet.

Wow!! Such a small masterpiece! Finished reading in less than two hours. This book has the pain and agony that every woman undergoes in life.
A true magnum opus, though the translation was way too shabby..

"In the instinct of no-creature-of-Nature
the birth of a female is considered
undesirable.
Only humans consider it strange."

I was able to connect with almost every bit of emotion shared in the book. Its a poetry of everything I ever wished to express as a woman!

Pain and words i wanted to express for long, anger that i wanted to vent out is finally bundled up in this one little book of Bangla poetry..

Glad to have met my alter ego in Taslima.

[Akriti Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of heart braking tales told in the form of poetry. There are a couple of poems which I feel obliged to mention and believe that every man and woman must read -
1. Women - pg 60
2. Bibi Khadija - pg 43
3. At the back of progress - pg 40

There is another poem named Mokka Madina, which is probably a euphemism for Mecca Madina which is the story of two young girls who were not only raped but penalised with 100 whips for being impure after the rape. This horrible story unfortunately just scratches the surface of the ugly face of this world.

[SANTHOSH ACHUBALUM · Rating 5 out of 5]

"VISHNUISM LAJJA"

[Mills College Library]

891.44171 N243a 2005

[Charli Mnd]

Je n’accroche pas tellement avec la poésie, surtout que celle-là n’a pas de réelles envolées
lyriques, mais je rejoins ces combats autour de l’injustice d’être une femme (et notamment
Celles dans son pays d’origine). On sent son caractère émancipateur.