Maisha Syeda

Maisha Syeda is a writer, painter, lecturer, and the Sub editor of Star Books and Literature.

Of homes and the worlds: Women, violence, and the domestic space

November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, marks the beginning of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence which goes until December 10, Human Rights Day.

3w ago

A walk through free (?) Dhaka

Bangladesh has gone through a day of historical proportions, and the people on the streets seem to know this.

4m ago

All that I shouldn’t have known

What I wish I didn’t know is that when your dear friends whisper the word “psycho” behind your back, you’ll grow up accepting it.

5m ago

Shrines

Words have crashed onto your shores,

8m ago

TRIGGER WARNING: Agency, autonomy, and female smoking

A month ago, as I waited for a friend in Banani, I decided to grab a packet of cigarettes. I’m not good at calculations for loose change and the vendor, old and seemingly disoriented, was having a hard time too.

9m ago

The sound of Dhaka city

Once on a particularly smothering hot day, on a CNG ride to work, I was stuck in the most heinous traffic for over two hours. Over the yelling drivers, honking cars, and incessant cursing over why the CNGs were trying to overtake the expensive cars, I was listening to my usual cycle of songs. As coincidence would have it, David Gilmour in his seraphic voice posed the question: “So, so you think you can tell/ Heaven from hell?”

1y ago

In the sand dunes

His face was growing warmer, it seemed as though the intangible entity that was stinging his closed eyes was growing stronger.

1y ago

Of ‘BONOBIBI’ and music as a form of storytelling

The verses remind us that a withering, war-torn Earth can still birth new life and hopes of freedom.

1y ago
March 3, 2023
March 3, 2023

‘Bonbibi’: When music has a soul

I’m no musician; my knowledge of good and bad music goes much beyond the superficial but, what do I know of the technicalities that goes into creating something that emerges as an enchanting composition?

February 6, 2023
February 6, 2023

AI generated Bangladeshi comic ‘Manobjatir Grohon’: An initiative with potential

We find out that civilisation underwent the threat of extinction, where only a few survived. About 100 years later, Anika, a 19-year-old girl, comes across an orb-like glowing “machine” that is meant to “change the fate of the current humanity forevermore.”

February 2, 2023
February 2, 2023

Surviving in a stagnant industry: What are emerging publishers doing differently?

Preexisting publishers are struggling to sustain in the market since the Covid-19 and the recent rise in paper prices. How are smaller and emerging publishers faring? 

January 3, 2023
January 3, 2023

Rifat Munim releases anthology, ‘Bangladesh: A Literary Journey through 50 Short Stories’

The book will be launched at the Dhaka Lit Fest starting Thursday, January 5, where Rifat Munim is also hosting a session.

December 18, 2022
December 18, 2022

Six of my favourite winter reads

Be it for their nostalgic pull or the promise of escaping into a rich, evocative world, these tales have been consistent go-to’s for me over the years.

December 15, 2022
December 15, 2022

An ordinary day, with monsters in our jungles

Even the Bangladeshi protagonist—merely referred to as Agontok (a stranger)—is established as an anti-hero, in contrast with the traditionally heroic Hercules, which I thought was an exciting change.

October 26, 2022
October 26, 2022

Bookworm Bangladesh to vacate shop after 30 years of serving readers

“We tried our best to keep the shop but the tides of change are upon us”, Bookworm announced on their social media today. 

October 20, 2022
October 20, 2022

Can a city hold a home? - Shagufta Sharmeen Tania’s short story, “What Men Live By”

“What Men Live By” opens like a children’s story—the way Matilda or most Roald Dahl books would start out—with simple, everyday events and straightforward descriptions. Eventually, though, one line caught my attention and I couldn’t help but smile:

October 6, 2022
October 6, 2022

Your favourite fictional blackout companions

“Free light source plus [a] dude I can sit and ruminate with, it’s perfect.” 

September 28, 2022
September 28, 2022

Shaheen Akhtar’s ‘Beloved Rongomala’ (trans. Shabnam Nadiya) in a new edition from Westland Books

Based on an 18th century legend from Bangladesh’s Noakhali region, Beloved Ronglomala tells the story of one Queen Phuleswari, a child bride, and of Rongomala, a woman of legend.