Bangla Academy was established to enrich Bangla literature and the body of knowledge available in Bangla by encouraging research and publication in the language.
The academy started its journey in 1955 and within two years had begun to publish books and magazines in Bangla. By 1971, the academy had published 317 books and journals.
After independence, the academy started a new journey. With 149 books, the Bangla Development Board was merged with the academy and the total number of books and magazines the enhanced academy published rose to 466.
Since its inception, the academy has gone on to publish some 5,000 books and magazines in support of its mission.
But most titles are not available for purchase because the authorities of the academy do not reprint sold out first editions.
According to sources at Bangla Academy, about 3,500 books remain unavailable to readers because reprints were not issued.
As of January this year, the academy had published 4,999 books of which 3,656 were not available, sources said.
Bangla Academy published 95 books for Amar Ekushey Boi Mela 2015.
But of those 95 titles, 44 were either written or edited by Shamsuzzaman Khan, the Bangla Academy’s director general.
A mere 16 titles are reprints of earlier publications.
Shamsuzzaman Khan, the Bangla Academy director general, said: “We do not have enough money to reprint these books. The authors can have other publishers reprint their books.”
“Bangla Academy has copyright to the books but has not gone for subsequent editions for financial reasons,” Jalal Uddin Ahmed, head of the reprint department of Bangla Academy, said, adding: “We will try to publish other books next year.”
Academy authorities told the Dhaka Tribune it was not reprinting books because of funding constraints and a “low demand” for the books in the market.
Syed Anwar Husain, a professor at Dhaka University’s History Department, said: “Bangla Academy is given allocations from the government to publish new books.
“But the government does not allocate funds for reprints. Moreover, Bangla Academy publications are priced very low compared to their actual publication costs.”
Nevertheless, many researchers, students and book enthusiasts said they could not find many Bangla Academy publications which they said they needed for their work and research.
Mohsinul Haque, chief judicial magistrate of Gaibandha, was looking for “Kabbe Aampara” by Kazi Nazrul Islam, published by Bangla Academy.
He told the Dhaka Tribune: “I have been searching for this book since 1995. Two decades later I still have not been able to find it.
“I need the book for my research. I have searched for it in different stores across the country. Even Bangla Academy does not carry it,” he said.
“Salespeople at the academy were not able to give me information about the book,” he added.
He is not alone.
Many researchers and readers said they could not find the books they were looking for because Bangla Academy had not issued reprints for many years, despite apparent market demand.
The sought-after books include rare works of literature, novels, dramas, biographies, and translations of books from other languages.
The Dhaka Tribune found that only one-fourth of the books and magazines published by the academy were in stock.
The Zia Haider translation of Jean Anouilh’s Antigone, Kalidas’ Meghdut and the Ahmad Sharif edition of Laily-Majnu by Daulat Uzir Bahram Khan are some of the famous works of literature published by the academy that are not available.
Still, many authors do not want other publishers to handle their work once it has been published by the academy even if the academy’s copyright has expired.
Abbas Uddin Ahmed, author of Biography of Language Martyr Rafiq which was published by Bangla Academy, said his book was sold out and Bangla Academy had not reprinted it despite a continued demand for the book.
“I do not want it reprinted by any other publishing house because, having one’s work published by Bangla Academy gives it a special dignity and prestige,” he explained.
Rafiq Azad, the director of the National Book Centre of Bangladesh, said: “Although all books are not important, many have literary value and are in demand and so should be reprinted immediately.
“Bangla Academy should reprint these books for the next generation otherwise they will be in the darkness.”
Meanwhile, the manuscripts of thousands of published titles collect dust and mould in the archives of the academy’s reprint section.
Out-of-date catalogue
According to Bangla Academy’s book fair catalogue 2015, the academy has put 1,343 books and six magazines on sale.
The Science Encyclopedia, Plato’s The Republic, Bangla Bhashar Proyog Opoproyog and many other famous books are listed in the catalogue but are not available.
Sales staff at the academy’s sales centre confirmed the books were not currently available.
One salesperson, who asked not to be named, said: “Every year, we send a list of around 100 books to the reprint section. But they usually print just four or five titles.”
After being unified with the Bangla Development Board, Bangla Academy started publishing college and university-level textbooks of various subjects in Bangla.
Students of Dhaka University, BUET, the medical colleges and the National University, among others, use these textbooks. But most are no longer available.
Only a third of textbooks, on average across disciplines, are currently available, Bangla Academy officials said.
The Dhaka Tribune has come to know that the academy has published 50 law textbooks but just 14 were available.
Just 27 of 60 economics textbooks, eight of 27 mass communication and journalism textbooks, 17 of 37 anthropology and 62 of 70 history textbooks were available.
The situation is best summed up by the fact that since 1997, Bangla Academy has not updated its catalogue or bibliography.
Out-of-print great works of literature
Bangla Academy has published more than 1,000 literature titles, including novels, dramas, short stories and poems.
Only 200 books of literature are available.
Famous short stories such as Rani Khaler Shako, Rupar Kowta, Srikanto, Shakuntola, Malabika, Haramony, Hatemtayi and Hiramoner Golpoare are out of print.
Out-of-stock world literature
Although Bangla Academy has published a vast number of translations of famous and seminal works of world literature, most titles are unavailable.
Robert Penn’s All the King’s Men translated by Kabir Chowdhury, Henrik Ibsen’s The Wild Duck translated by Serajul Islam Chowdhury, Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe translated by Biplob Das, H G Wells’ The Time Machine translated by Mahbubul Haque and Albert Camus’ The Plague translated by Shahed Suhrawardi, Ahsan Habib and The Dialogues of Plato edited by Sardar Fazlul Karim, Kabbo Sanchoin by Iqbal, The Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayyam, The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Thomas More’s Utopia, John Milton’s Areopagitica, Christopher Marlowe’s Dr Faustus and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels are all out of reach of readers because they have not been reprinted.
Sold-out omnibuses and biographies
Bangla Academy has published 300 biographies of various eminent personalities, but just 120 of them are available.
The biography of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was first published in 1974. It is not currently available.
The biographies of Begum Rokeya, Munir Chowdhury, Jibanananda Das, Lalon Shah, Jasim Uddin and others are unavailable to readers due to a lack of reprints.
In a similar vein, the academy has published more than 150 omnibus volumes involving the work of more than 70 writers, but less than half – just 60 – volumes are available.
Notably, the Zahir Raihan omnibus, Syed Waliullah omnibus, Munir Chowdhury omnibus and Ahsan Habib omnibus are out of print.