Mohammad Nurul Huda (born 30 September 1949) is a Bangladeshi poet, essayist, literary critic, translator and folklorist. He served as the Director General of Bangla Academy during 2021–2024. Huda is dubbed as Jatisattar Kobi meaning "the poet of national identity". He was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2015 and Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1988 by the government of Bangladesh. As of 2013, Huda has written more than fifty poetry books. His notable works include Amra Tamate Jati, Jonmojati, Moinopahar, Byangkumar, Chander Buro Chander Buri, Chhotoder Begum Rokeya, Chotoder Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Chhotoder Rabindra Jiboni, Chotoder Ruposhi Banglar Kobi Jibanananda Das, Dekha Hole Eka Hoye Jai, Rajar Poshak, Rabindra Prokriti O Onanya, Sartre O Onyanya Prosongo, and Satbhai Chompa.

Education

Huda was born on 30 September 1949 in Pokkhali village, Cox's Bazar District in the then East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan to Mohammad Sekander and Anjuman Ara Begum (d. 2015).

Career

In 2007, after 34 years of service, Huda retired as a director of Bangla Academy. At the academy, he worked as the project director at Young Writers' Project. Huda held the position of executive director of Nazrul Institute. He worked as member secretary of the Nazrul Birth Centenary Celebration Committee in 2021. After the incumbent Bangla Academy Director General Habibullah Siraji died on 24 May 2021, Huda was appointed by the government of Bangladesh for the vacant position on 12 July. Huda was the editor of arts.bdnews24.com in 2013. Huda is a Fellow at Bangla Academy and member of American Folklore Society, International Society for Folk Narrative, and Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Huda has translated the poems of the Turkish poet Yunus Emre's poems, in collaboration with Arshaduzzaman, and also translated Nazrul's famous poems entitled 'Kemal Pasha' and 'Wardrum' into English. He was decorated with state honour as an outstanding personality contributing to the promotion of Turkish-Bangladesh relations by Süleyman Demirel, the President of Turkey, during his Bangladesh visit marking the silver jubilee celebration of independence of Bangladesh on 25 March 1997.

Awards

Journals and magazines

Journals-Magazines edited and compiled by Huda are as follows:

Publications

More than 100 titles in total to Huda's credit as of February 2007. Some English titles are -

Poetry

Huda published as many as fifty poetry books to his credit till February 2007 as listed below:

Essays, researches and narrative prose

Fiction, travelogue and prose

Translation

Books edited and compiled

Work on intellectual property

Huda has been working on matters relating to intellectual property since last few years. On 12 December 2007 he presented a seminal work at the Top Level Forum on Intellectual Property organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO/OMPI), held in Geneva, Switzerland. The main focus of his paper was Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCE). He presented an estimation of the value of yearly transaction TCE in Bangladesh.