The Devil's Thumbprint

The collection was criticised on first submission, with one potential Bangladeshi publisher claiming Akbar's work was "too permissive and explicit." Akbar took the criticism as encouragement, refused to consider the suggested edits and withdrew the manuscript.[1]

French author and journalist Florence Noiville thought "Ahsan Akbar's poetry ... contains all the beauty of everyday miracles and the wild joy of being alive." Indian poet Tishani Doshi thought "... while these spare, elegant poems struggle with the quandary of restlessness, they remain rooted firmly in desire." Bangladeshi poet Kaiser Haq called it "... a highly interesting debut collection that bears the stamp of a distinctive, lively and worldly-wise sensibility." British journalist Rosie Boycott described the poems as "... very strong, moving and very clear, which is a big compliment as I often think that poetry is too obtuse and hard to get a handle on." Pakistani short story writer Aamer Hussein said, "The conversational tone of many of these fine poems disguises a subtle technical skill. Ahsan Akbar's is a sophisticated, original and very contemporary voice."[2] Andrew Eagle of The Daily Star noted that "... it's pushing the envelope since in style, subject matter, language and perspective there is a lot of the contemporary U.K. in it."[1]

The poem "Tree Without Roots" was selected to represent Dhaka in "Capitals", a poetry anthology representing all the capital cities of the world. The collection was published in Bloomsbury International in winter 2016.[3]

• Bangladeshi English literature

• Official website