For anyone looking to immerse themself in the literary culture of Bangladesh, Professor Razia Khan Amin's name and presence are unavoidable. A poet, novelist, and literary critic (1936–2011) who taught some of the most prolific litterateurs of our time, her towering personality reaches the current generation through fascinating anecdotes. She was "a truly colourful person… precocious but also ahead of her time in her ideas and ways", Professor Fakrul Alam wrote in
Once More into the Past (Daily Star Books, 2020), a collection of his essays earlier published in the Star Literature pages. "She led the young women going out to face the world. Led them into sunshine and self-confident awareness [...] with wit and anecdote, with original insight and analytic criticism", Professor Rebecca Haque wrote of her in another