Kazi Nazrul Islam: Three Plays

Kazi Nazrul Islam’s dramatic works remain one of the least explored aspects of his literary legacy. While he is celebrated for his revolutionary poetry and music, his plays have received far less critical attention. This volume seeks to recover and showcase the richness of Nazrul’s dramatic imagination, revealing a writer deeply engaged with faith, love, devotion, and social ideals.

The collection presents English translations of three of Nazrul’s plays—Srimanta, Vidyapati, and Vishnupriya—which together illuminate his lyrical artistry, spiritual vision, and humanistic concerns. Through themes of longing, sacrifice, and devotion, these works offer fresh insight into an important yet overlooked dimension of his oeuvre.

The volume also includes translations of thirteen songs composed by Nazrul for the celebrated playwright Manmatha Roy’s drama Layla-Majnu. Translated collaboratively by four students from Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), this collection introduces English-language readers to a rich but often neglected part of Nazrul’s oeuvre, highlighting the range, originality, and lasting appeal of his dramatic works.