Shamim Azad

Shamim Azad (born 11 November 1952) is a Bangladeshi-born British bilingual poet, storyteller and writer. She won 2023 Bangla Academy Literary Award in the poetry category.

Early life
Azad was born in Mymensingh, East Bengal in the then Dominion of Pakistan where her father had worked. Her hometown was in Sylhet. She passed her SSC from Jamalpur Girls High School in 1967 and passed her HSC from Kumudini College in 1969. She enrolled in University of Dhaka and earned honours degree in 1972 and a master's degree in 1973.

In 1990, Azad came to England.

Career
Azad's work ranges from Bangladeshi to European folktales. Her performance fuses the lines between education and entertainment and her workshops are rooted in Asian folk, oral traditions and heritage.

Azad has published 37 books including novels, collections of short stories, essays and poems in both English and Bengali and has been included in various anthologies including British South Asian Poetry, My Birth Was Not in Vain, Velocity, Emlit Project and Mother Tongues. She wrote two plays for Half Moon Theatre. She has worked with composers Richard Blackford, Kerry Andrew, choreographer Rosemary Lee, visual artist Robin Whitemore and playwright Mary Cooper.

Azad has performed at venues including the Museum of London, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Cambridge Water Stone, Liberty Radio, Battersea Arts Centre, Lauderdale House, the Commonwealth Institute, British Library, British Council of Bangladesh, Takshila in Pakistan and New York. Her residencies have included, Tower Hamlets Summer University, Sunderland City Library and Arts Centre, East Side Arts, Poetry Society, Magic Me, Rich Mix Cultural Foundation, Kinetika, Bromley by Bow Centre, Half Moon Theatre, and Apples and Snakes.

Azad is a trustee of Rich Mix in Shoreditch, founder chair of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro (World Literature Centre UK) in London. She is part of the East storytelling group, which invites local residents to join in sharing some of the stories brought together by the Eastend's rich, diverse history of immigration.

Awards
Azad received the Bangladesh "Bichitra Award" in 1994, "Year of the Artist" Award from London Arts in 2000, "Sonjojon- A Rouf" Award in 2004, and UK "Civic Award" in 2004. Community Champions Award in 2014 by Canary Wharf group PLC. In 2016, she was awarded Syed Waliullah Literature Award, which is conferred by the Bangla Academy.

Personal life
Azad lives in Wanstead, Redbridge, London.