Shalim M. Hussain

Shalim Muktadir Hussain
Born1987 (age 38–39)
Assam, India
Alma materJamia Millia Islamia (Ph.D.)
OccupationsPoet, translator, activist, filmmaker, academic
EmployerUniversity of Delhi
OrganizationsMiya Community Research Collective
Known forMiya poetry movement

Shalim Muktadir Hussain (born 1987) is an Indian poet, translator, activist, filmmaker and academic from Assam.[1][2][3][4][5] He is a PhD scholar at the Department of English of Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi, where he researches Assamese literary aesthetics; and is an Assistant Professor at the Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Vivekananda C colleges, University of Delhi.[6][7][8] A leading figure in the Miya poetry movement, Hussain is a founding member of the Miya Community Research Collective.[9][10][11][12]

Works

Hussain's first poetry collection, Betel Nut City, was published in 2019, after winning the RL Poetry Award in 2017.[13][14][15][16] Post-Colonial Poems, his English translation of poetry by the Adivasi writer Kamal Kumar Tanti was published the same year, followed by his 2020 translation of the popular Assamese novel Asimot Jar Heral Sima.[17][18][19] In 2020, Hussain won a Literary Translation and Creative Writing Fellowship from the Charles Wallace India Trust for his anthology of English translations from the Char-Chapori Assamese and Bengali dialect, Again I Hear These Waters (published by Titled Axis Press, 2024).[20][21][22] The first collection of Miya poetry in translation, the anthology, which includes Hafiz Ahmed's seminal Write Down ‘I am a Miyah’, won Hussain a PEN Translates award in 2021.[23][24][25][26] In 2026, the collection was awarded an honourable mention for the Association for Asian Studies' A. K. Ramanujan Prize for Translation.[22][27]

References

  1. ^ Mathew, Ashlin (2019-07-30). "Verses of Protest: The Miyah Way". National Herald. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  2. ^ "Listening to Miyah Poets – Ishara Arts". Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  3. ^ "Shalim M Hussain – Poet | Mpositive.in". 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  4. ^ "Shalim Muktadir Hussain | India Foundation for the Arts". indiaifa.org. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  5. ^ Bhattacharya, Suryasarathi (26 June 2019). "Miyah poetry: How Assam's Bengali-Muslims used words to capture a lifetime of oppression and abuse". Firstpost.
  6. ^ Hussain, Shalim M. (2018-07-31). "Nana I have Written - Samyukta: A Journal of Women's Studies". Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  7. ^ "Shalim Muktadir Hussain | India Foundation for the Arts". indiaifa.org. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  8. ^ "In Conversation with Dr Hafiz Ahmed: 'The Char Chaporis Cut Their Roots to Fit into "Greater" Assamese Culture'". Sahapedia. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  9. ^ Fair, The London Book (2020-04-29). "Displaced Voices: Translating Writing by Refugee and Exiled Authors | The Hub by The London Book Fair | Publishing News". Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  10. ^ "Shalim M Hussain – Miyah Poet | Mpositive.in". 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  11. ^ "WHO WE ARE | Miya Community Research Collective". Miya Community Resea. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  12. ^ "Again I Hear These Waters by Shalim M. Hussain". coles-books.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  13. ^ Varakil, Binoy (2021-05-28). "Activist Literature and Protest Aesthetics in Miya Poetry: A Rereading of Betel Nut City". American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation. 24 (1–2): 240–243. doi:10.69980/ajpr.v24i1-2.753. ISSN 1548-7776.
  14. ^ ""We the Sons of Bitches Are Doing Fine": The Dissent of Miya Poetry". Jamhoor. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  15. ^ "Shalim M Hussain". Literature Across Frontiers. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  16. ^ "Shalim M Hussain, Author at Usawa Literary Review". Usawa Literary Review. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  17. ^ "Locked Down in Lampeter: Writing and Translating Protest Poetry from Assam". Literature Across Frontiers. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  18. ^ "Shalim M. Hussain". Words Without Borders. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  19. ^ Gani, Abdul (2020-11-03). "Popular Assamese novel 'Asimot Jar Heral Sima' to be released in English". Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  20. ^ "Again I Hear These Waters by Multiple Authors, Shalim Hussain | Waterstones". www.waterstones.com. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  21. ^ "Again I Hear These Waters". shop.royalacademy.org.uk. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  22. ^ a b "Again I Hear These Waters". Tilted Axis Press. Retrieved 2026-01-21.
  23. ^ "PEN Translates awards announced - News & Events". English PEN. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
  24. ^ "I Am 'Miya' — Reclaiming Identity Through Protest Poetry". SabrangIndia. 2019-07-03. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  25. ^ Staff, Maktoob (2021-12-22). "Shalim Hussain's 'I am Miyah' wins PEN Translates award". Maktoob media. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  26. ^ "Bengali Muslims in Assam and 'Miyah' Poetry: Walking on the Shifting Terrains of 'Na-Asamiya' and 'Infiltrator' – Journal of Migration Affairs A Bi-Annual Journal". Retrieved 2026-02-13.
  27. ^ Now, Asia (2026-02-11). "AAS 2026 Prizes". Association for Asian Studies. Retrieved 2026-02-13.