From Pages to Stages: Rafeed Elahi Chowdhury
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Image courtesy of rafeed elahi chowdhury
The first time I stood in front of an audience, I wasn’t trying to perform. I was just reading from the pages like a bedtime story. The pauses, their expressions and the atmosphere told me that they were not listening; it was way more than that. The audience was reacting to my words. That changed everything.
I didn’t start my storytelling journey on stage. I was writing short stories for magazines during my high school days, long before I ever imagined standing in front of a room full of people. Back then, flexing my published pieces on social media and getting enough money in my wallet to buy my favorite fast food meals were enough sources of motivation.
Everyone’s aware that I come from a country where there aren’t so many homegrown English authors. I remember my publisher believing in me enough to give me my big break when I launched my first fiction book, My Acid Romance, in 2022. Even today, I receive messages about a new reader telling me about the twist at the end that was not expected. I’ll be honest, at one point, being termed as a romance author did get on my nerves. My 2023 was filled with my first ever crime thriller, my first comedy-drama, and I ended the year with Rules of Eternity, which, more than anything else I’ve written, brought me closest to my readers.
Vancouver Public Library’s Writer Showcase program is where I stood in front of the audience and read from Rules of Eternity. It was structured and formal, the format that already existed long before me. But the audience reactions told me that there was something more I could do with storytelling, something beyond just standing there and reading.
I realized that if I can get reactions out of a few pages, maybe I can achieve way more out of an entire novel. That instinct is what led to a turning point - The Deshi Writer. That standalone featured event at the Coquitlam Public Library was a part of Culture Days, one of Canada’s largest arts festivals.
That’s where I recited a shortened version of ‘Rules of Eternity’. A full hall, food, reactions throughout - it was all taking place around a story that came out of my own head. That’s when it really hit me: there was something powerful about being in the same space as the people who were feeling my words in real time.
The craziest part was that people were listening to ideas that just came out of my head. It’s inspiring, and insanely magical.
After that, I brought the same format to Rafeed in Whistler, repeating the structure in a new space. Over the next few months, I kept building on it, and the audience reactions followed.
I’ve always felt like traditional readings are a bit safe. I wanted to do something where people don’t just listen, but they laugh, they react.
Some people laughed at the jokes, some got emotional during the emotional lines and some were impatient to learn when my next book would come out.
I wanted people to trust my storytelling ability. So that when I release something new, they believe in it.
At a show in New Westminster, right before a sad poem, I asked the audience if they enjoyed listening to my misery. They laughed loudly. I joked back, calling them out for it, and the laughter continued. It reminded me how important chemistry with the audience really is.
I think people find my culture interesting after they hear my stories, be it about my childhood, family or heartbreak. I don’t want people to study it, I want them to feel it, to live in it.
Over time, the format started shifting again. I’ve completely moved to a new format, and now building a hybrid-story-led format, where the narratives carry everything, and the poems are the core ingredient. As weird as this might sound, this is my new style of storytelling, with conversation, interaction and constant shifts in tone. People who love poetry will connect with the lines. People who don’t usually read will stay for the story.
At Surrey Muse - May 2026, that new format takes the stage, to make people laugh at the wrong moments and make them sit with the emotions during the downs. Surrey Muse, that is to be held at Surrey Public Libraries’ City Centre Branch, will feature a number of artists. I’ll be sharing a mix of published and unpublished work, and the stories behind what made me write those pieces in the first place.
Find more information about the May 23, 2026 Surrey Muse lineup here.
Rafeed Elahi Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi author. Currently, he is based in Metro Vancouver, Canada. He debuted with his novel “My Acid Romance” in 2022, which remains a fan favorite to date. In 2023, he followed up with “Moho,” “Fayez Just Became a Father,” and “Rules of Eternity,” earning praise for his diverse range of storytelling. “I Drew a Line for You” - his first book of poetry and musings, reached milestones in both Canada and Bangladesh. In 2025, he published “We Both Know How This Ends.” As one of the few Bangladeshi authors writing English novels, Rafeed has become well-known for his contributions to the romance genre.
