Ishrat Jahan

The Whole Kahani’s ‘Tongues and Bellies’: A promising literary confection

Tongues and Bellies, published by Linen Press (2021), is described by its blurb as an anthology where “sensual and surprising stories play a tantalising game of hide and seek with lies and truth”.

2y ago

The comfort of books amidst wedding lights

It is December again and as evenings set in, Dhaka becomes brighter than it has been in the past few months.

2y ago

Matthew Salesses demystifies the craft of writing

Storytelling is a space in which, as writers and readers, we experience the ways of how we know the world and interact with it.

3y ago

The universality of solitude and good books in Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Whereabouts'

Whereabouts (Penguin India, 2021) is Jhumpa Lahiri’s third novel, published originally as Dove mi trovo (2018) in Italian and translated to English by the author herself, as she did with her work of nonfiction, In Other Words (2015).

3y ago

Remembering the Birangona: The power of personal narratives

The books we recall today, Ami Birangona Bolchi (1994), Rising from the Ashes (2001), and The Spectral Wound (2015), are among the documentations which highlight women’s voices and their perspectives of 1971.

3y ago

Women and Bangladesh's publishing industry

The publishing and literary world in Bangladesh have considerable visibility of women: some are authoritative figures in the literary and academic world, some run their own establishments and bookshops; others occupy senior positions in many of the local publishing houses and literary committees. However, like the systems and society we currently operate in, this industry is also influenced by the larger patriarchal structure.

3y ago

Netflix’s ‘The White Tiger’: A Lukewarm Translation of Rage On-screen

One can’t help but be excited about Netflix’s recent attempts at bringing to life and screen valuable works of South Asian fiction. Today’s focus, The White Tiger, which premiered on Netflix on January 21, 2021, was a debut novel by the Indian-Australian writer and journalist Aravind Adiga, who won critical acclaim and the Man Booker Prize in 2008 for his critique of class and caste boundaries in India.

3y ago

Dissent through the Ages in the Indian Subcontinent

Eminent scholar and Emeritus Professor of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Romila Thapar, in her latest book, Voices of Dissent (Seagull Books, 2020), explores important perspectives on dissent located in the historical and contemporary context of the Indian subcontinent.

3y ago
March 31, 2022
March 31, 2022

The Whole Kahani’s ‘Tongues and Bellies’: A promising literary confection

Tongues and Bellies, published by Linen Press (2021), is described by its blurb as an anthology where “sensual and surprising stories play a tantalising game of hide and seek with lies and truth”.

December 9, 2021
December 9, 2021

The comfort of books amidst wedding lights

It is December again and as evenings set in, Dhaka becomes brighter than it has been in the past few months.

October 28, 2021
October 28, 2021

Matthew Salesses demystifies the craft of writing

Storytelling is a space in which, as writers and readers, we experience the ways of how we know the world and interact with it.

August 26, 2021
August 26, 2021

The universality of solitude and good books in Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Whereabouts'

Whereabouts (Penguin India, 2021) is Jhumpa Lahiri’s third novel, published originally as Dove mi trovo (2018) in Italian and translated to English by the author herself, as she did with her work of nonfiction, In Other Words (2015).

June 17, 2021
June 17, 2021

Remembering the Birangona: The power of personal narratives

The books we recall today, Ami Birangona Bolchi (1994), Rising from the Ashes (2001), and The Spectral Wound (2015), are among the documentations which highlight women’s voices and their perspectives of 1971.

March 11, 2021
March 11, 2021

Women and Bangladesh's publishing industry

The publishing and literary world in Bangladesh have considerable visibility of women: some are authoritative figures in the literary and academic world, some run their own establishments and bookshops; others occupy senior positions in many of the local publishing houses and literary committees. However, like the systems and society we currently operate in, this industry is also influenced by the larger patriarchal structure.

January 28, 2021
January 28, 2021

Netflix’s ‘The White Tiger’: A Lukewarm Translation of Rage On-screen

One can’t help but be excited about Netflix’s recent attempts at bringing to life and screen valuable works of South Asian fiction. Today’s focus, The White Tiger, which premiered on Netflix on January 21, 2021, was a debut novel by the Indian-Australian writer and journalist Aravind Adiga, who won critical acclaim and the Man Booker Prize in 2008 for his critique of class and caste boundaries in India.

December 3, 2020
December 3, 2020

Dissent through the Ages in the Indian Subcontinent

Eminent scholar and Emeritus Professor of History at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Romila Thapar, in her latest book, Voices of Dissent (Seagull Books, 2020), explores important perspectives on dissent located in the historical and contemporary context of the Indian subcontinent.

November 19, 2020
November 19, 2020

Reclaiming Historical Spaces through Fiction

The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (Charco Press, 2019) begins in the poor encampments of a village in 19th century Argentina, with the protagonist marvelling at the hope and light she finds in the sight of a puppy playing in some dirt.

August 27, 2020
August 27, 2020

The stillness of human wandering

When we think of migration, the images in our collective narratives are constructed primarily with masses of people on the move, leaving places they belong in for foreign lands. In her latest book, Sonia Shah, an American science journalist and author, critically takes apart the boundaries around human wandering both in our lands and our mind-sets.