Shamim Azad is a performance poet and a story-teller who works with Apples & Snakes for education. She works and writes in two languages (Bangla-English) believing it gives her a different take on the world. She performed places including Museum of London, Cambridge Water Stone, Liberty Radio, Battersea Arts Centre, Lauderdel House, Commonwealth Institute, British Council of Bangladesh, Takshila in Pakistan and New York. She has worked with well known composer Richard Blackford, choreographer Rosemary Lee, visual artist Robin Whitemore and others.  

Her poems were included in few Anthologies including British South Asian Poetry, My Birth Was Not In Vain, Velocity, Emlit Project and Mother Tongues etc and published in a special issue of Newyorker USA. She wrote bilingual plays- The Raft and co-wrote Hopscotch Ghost for the Half Moon Theatre. Azad's bilingual (English-Bangla) compilations and translations are Voyages and The Life of Mr. Aziz. The work of Rosemary Lee project involving two primary school's from East London was on display for a month (Feb 2004) in White Chapel Library and her collaborative work with Imugin Ashbey for Magic Me ( Telling Tell- The life of Mr. Aziz) displayed in Maze box at Tate Modern, London for the10th National Lottery celebration (6.11.04) as 140th item. 

At the moment she is working for Apples & Snakes as a resident writer in Thomas Buxton Junior- titled as Kahani. She has published 7 books including novels, collections of short stories, essays and poems in Bangla. Sheffield’s Off the Shelf Festival of writing and reading 2003 described Azad as " one of Britain's best-known Bangladeshi writers in Britain". 

She is a trustee of well known charity One World Action, a school Governor and  Chairperson of Bishwo Shahitto Kendro (World Literature Centre) London. Azad received the Bichitra Award in 1994 from Bangladesh ,Year of the Artist 2000 Award from London Arts, Sonjojon- A Rouf Award 2004 & Civic Awad in 2004 in UK.  

Related Link:

Her website is: www.shamimazad.com, email: shetuli@yahoo.com