Dilruba Ahmed is an American writer, educator, and poet of Bangladeshi descent. Her work was selected by Major Jackson for ''The Best American Poetry 2019''.

Early life

Dilruba Ahmed was born in the United States and grew up in western Pennsylvania and rural Ohio. Her parents are from Bangladesh and immigrated to the United States. Her interest in poetry comes from her mother who used to write and recite poetry in Bangladesh. From her mother she learned the works of

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

and

Jibanananda Das Jibanananda Das () (17 February 1899 – 22 October 1954) was an Indian poet, writer, novelist and essayist in the Bengali language. Popularly called "Rupashi Banglar Kabi'' ('Poet of Beautiful Bengal'), Das is the most read poet after Rabindr ...

. She completed her BPhil and MAT from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

. She graduated with MFA from the

Warren Wilson College Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campu ...

. She has taught at the Low-Residency MFA program of the

Chatham University Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students an ...

and at Bryn Mawr College.

Career

Dilruba Ahmed's first poetry collection ''Dhaka Dust'' (Graywolf Press, 2011) won the Bakeless Prize awarded by the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. In her poem she writes about the Bangladeshi American experience in the United States and also in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The book was selected by contest judge Arthur Sze. Her poetry has been anthologized in ''The Human Experience'' (Bedford/St. Martin's), ''Halal If You Hear Me'' (Haymarket Books)'','' and ''An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian American Poetry'' (University of Arkansas). Her poem, "The 18th Century Weavers of Muslin Whose Thumbs Were Chopped" deals with colonial repression by the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

in the Bengal. Ahmed's second book, ''Bring Now the Angels,'' was selected by Ed Ochester for the Pitt Poetry Series and will be published by University of Pittsburgh Press in April 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Dilruba Living people American people of Bangladeshi descent Bangladeshi women poets American women poets Year of birth missing (living people) University of Pittsburgh alumni 21st-century American women writers