Nurul Hoque is a Bangladeshi poet, novelist, editor, and lyricist whose literary journey spans nearly three decades. Deeply engaged with language and rhythm, he writes across genres with equal ease, earning recognition from readers and institutions around the world. In 2018, he was named World Laureate in Literature by the World Nations Writers’ Union in Kazakhstan. He also serves as Executive Director of the Munir Mezyed Foundation for Arts and Culture in Romania and plays a leading role in Odyssey International, where he has edited global poetry anthologies.
Born in Porikot village in Comilla, Bangladesh, Hoque grew up in a modest family shaped by compassion and resilience. His father was a community-minded rural worker, while his mother’s long life reflected quiet endurance. These early influences continue to inform his creative voice. Alongside his literary work, he pursued engineering studies and later contributed to major infrastructure projects in Bangladesh and beyond, working with international firms before returning fully to writing and cultural leadership.
Hoque has authored numerous books in Bengali and English, with poetry as his central form. His work explores peace, nature, love, spirituality, and the dignity of women, while also advocating for intercultural dialogue and value-based education in a globalized world. His poems have been translated into several languages, and his contributions have been honoured with multiple international awards. Through both writing and editorial work, he continues to build bridges across cultures, shaping a literary presence that is both original and global.
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AN ELEGY OF FALLEN LEAVES (Nurul Hoque )
A wandering wave upstream
A buoyant pull of water downstream
In the middle, there is no one else
Then why do dreams break into pieces?
The grey feathers of time also fall off
What’s the harm if you become a river?
Are women like desiccated, fallen leaves?
They fall aplenty,
Like rivers that change courses and contours,
Lose their flowing pace.
Will you change too?
If you change, then you may do so
The sediment in your abdomen that you have
Accumulated bit by bit,
Will it also exhaust in the end?
No matter if it gets exhausted,
No matter if rivers flow
I am writing a dirge of fallen leaves
While penning it,
I become speechless.
THE PORTRAIT, O THE CLOUD (Nurul Hoque )
Having portrayed you perfectly
I have spread you across the world
Lest we should never meet each other again.
When I sit down to write a poem
Your portrait springs to life
And sits on my writing table.
From the two eyes of your portrait falls
A yearning of a universe.
It seems like the portrait wants to say something
But when asked, it flaps its wings
Quickly and replies,
“No, I’m right beside you,
Just keep on writing.”
I stand astounded in amazement
I keep on gauging the depth of pain on its chin
And then, as I keep on writing the poem
I realize the vastness of a Mediterranean storm.
These days and all night long, the portrait
Follows me everywhere
And keeps an eye on me.
At times, the chasing portrait
Turns into a cloud and rains down on my downs
And I start to cry.
With a fringe full of pollens in hand
It looks embarrassed with eyes full of dreams.
I say, O the picture,
O the cloud
I no longer like this superhuman game
Take me back to the volcanic rocks in the hill.
I WANT TO DRAW YOU ANEW (Nurul Hoque )
I want to draw you anew
I want to write something new
About you, completely anew
With a conviction of creating a beautiful new world.
I want to gather the light of all the virtuous eyes of the world
I want to cast a glow on you,
Your inner self and outer self.
Let them drift in the waves of light endlessly
Let go of anarchy and darkness for good.
Let a corps of pensive poets or artists
Walk along the texture of your tress
From one end to another.
Even though I am not a poet
Yet, day and night,
I study your form and shape
I gently touch your chin.
I want the people of the world
To discover you anew
Let them see in the shadow of a sacrosanct soul
How hatred and violence blend with it.
To portray you in a few lines
Is well-nigh impossible.
Yet, I continue to carve you
With a chisel of words.
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These poems move through shifting emotional landscapes where personal reflection meets universal inquiry. In An Elegy of Fallen Leaves, the imagery of rivers and leaves carries a quiet meditation on change, erosion, and feminine endurance. The voice feels both intimate and philosophical, asking questions rather than resolving them, allowing silence to become part of the meaning.
The Portrait, O the Cloud enters a more surreal dimension, where memory, imagination, and longing take on physical form. The beloved becomes image, then presence, then weather. This fluid transformation suggests the instability of attachment and the persistence of emotional vision. The poem holds a tension between creation and loss, as the act of writing becomes both refuge and confrontation.
In I Want to Draw You Anew, the tone shifts toward renewal and artistic intention. The poem expresses a desire to reshape perception through light, language, and collective awareness. It reflects a belief in art as a transformative force, capable of revealing both beauty and contradiction within the human condition. Across these works, Hoque’s poetry demonstrates a layered engagement with identity, emotion, and the evolving shape of human connection.
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