Today is the 73th birthday of poet Nirmolendu Gun, one of the most popular Bangladeshi poets known for his accessible verse.
Gun was born in Kasban village under Barhatta Upazila of the Netrakona District on June 21, 1945.
He passed the Matriculation examination in 1962 and Intermediate examination in 1964 from Netrakona College.
In 1969, he got his Bachelor of Arts degree. He published his poem Notun Kandari on the magazine Uttor Akash. On February 21, 1965, he published the poem Kono Ek Sangramir Drishtite on the magazine Weekly Janata.
Gun’s first book of poetry, Premanghshur Rokto Chai, was published in 1970. Since then he has published forty-five collections of poetry and twenty collections of prose. Part of the generation of poets of 1960s, Gun’s poetry contains stinging criticism of the nouveau riche and a touching description of the contrasting fate of the masses.
A love of freedom and faith in the human spirit also permeates many of his poems. An avowed Marxist, Gun has also written poems urging an upheaval of the poor against the rich.
He also has written a number of poems on important personalities, including Rabindranath, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Lenin, Shakti Chattopadhyay and others.
Goon wrote three autobiographical books - Amar Chhelebela, Amar Konthhoshor and Atma Kotha 1971.
He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2001 and Independence Day Award by the Government of Bangladesh in 2016. He was also awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1982.