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,

9m 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
September 30, 2021
September 30, 2021

The need to be fierce: In "Sweetness", Toni Morrison allows a mother to explain her actions

Anyone familiar with Toni Morrison’s work would know about the gutting picture of slavery and racism that she painted with her stories.

September 16, 2021
September 16, 2021

‘The Green Knight’ adaptation subverts the tenets of chivalric romance

The mystical riddle that was the film, The Green Knight (2021), was initially just that for me: a riddle. It was one of those films where I felt like my experience of watching it would be more rewarding if I had some idea of the actual story it was based on.

  •