Can our walls make space for our dissent?
The walls of Dhaka city represent the volume and chaos of thousands of people jostling for ever-shrinking space.
3m ago
4 books I was grateful to read this year
It's true, I feel differently about books that I previously disliked or enjoyed reading and books that I want as a physical presence in my life
3m ago
Outliers take centre-stage in Shah Tazrian Ashrafi’s debut collection
It’s hard not to recall our many conversations about literature as I try to summarise Shah Tazrian Ashrafi’s debut collection of short stories. They were always short discussions, opening and closing off in spurts, as happens over text. Exclamations over a new essay collection by Zadie Smith, or a new novel by Isabel Allende.
4m ago
Rifat Munim on Bangladeshi fiction: ‘This is a diverse terrain you are going to tread on’
In the foreword, I wanted to capture how I, as a child, grew up listening to different stories: ghost stories, mythical stories from both Sanatana and Islamic religious scriptures, and fairy tales from 'Thakurmar Jhuli', compiled by Dakkhinaranjan Mitra Majumdar. It was a time when there were no boundaries for my imagination.
9m ago
The first semester is your shitty first draft
Like many veterans, I joined a creative writing MFA program because I wanted to evolve as a writer.
10m ago
A glimpse of the Istanbul we don’t know
Here was a woman who was but a dot amidst the throngs of people who watched the Bosphorus Bridge being opened in October 1973, as fireworks erupted over a Turkey that now seamed Asia to Europe.
1y ago
In conversation with South Asia’s preeminent literary agent, Kanishka Gupta
I always tell the authors to make subjective, qualitative decisions. So many of my authors say no to higher offers from publishing houses if they don’t feel comfortable with the publisher or editor.
1y ago
A bookstore is a time machine—Zeenat Book Supply through the ages
Last week, one of Dhaka’s oldest bookstores announced that they will be closing shop after running for 60 years
1y ago
March 25, 2023
The Birangona in poetry and conversation
Using a Fulbright fellowship, Tarfia decided to come to Bangladesh to research the war and interview the women whom the Bangladesh government, in 1972, titled Birangona (war heroines). These interviews resulted in 'Seam' (Southern Illinois University Press, 2014).
March 13, 2023
The pleasure of knowing your neighbourhood
Safe, vibrant public spaces are so rare in Dhaka that the months from January to early March feel like a gift from the universe when the Bangla Academy comes alive with the Dhaka Lit Fest, followed by the Dhaka Art Summit and the February extravaganza of the Ekushey Boi Mela. Since 2020, the Gulshan Book Fair has added to the series of treats for those of us who crave creative festivals in this city.
March 9, 2023
A legacy of women's freedom in art
Schwartz’s narrator speaks in the choral “we”, and like a daisy chain, they connect all these women’s shared yet individual experiences of feeling closed in, being violated, feeling misunderstood by society, until they all shed their names and managed to “escap[e] the century”.
March 9, 2023
4 nonfiction books that unpack South Asian feminism with nuance
The collection comprises essays, poetry, short fiction, feature pieces, interviews, research reports, and photographs and artwork that explore the physical, psychological and political experiences of menstruation across South Asia.
February 9, 2023
The books you will meet at Dhaka Art Summit 2023
For those who are especially interested in literature in book form, the first two floors of the exhibition hold treasures.
January 14, 2023
Foreign literature is a very precious tool for peace
Daily Star Books’ panel on January 8, Day 4 of the Dhaka Lit Fest sought to take the audience to a more existential aspect of what the festival attempts to do. Who chooses which stories deserve to become books? Who chooses whether news of those books will even reach readers? Does book criticism truly help the flow and business of literature within and across national borders?
January 12, 2023
Three literary walks: Nilanjana Roy, Shehan Karunatilaka, Daisy Rockwell
With a Books page you're creating a running history of the ideas and the parallel history or the imagination of a country.
January 7, 2023
FIND US AT DHAKA LIT FEST THIS WEEK!
Media platforms that critique literature are, therefore, at the heart of the book ecosystem. They shape a book’s public perception and can bolster (or destroy) sales.
January 5, 2023
5 new books to start the new year with
Someone has to pay the price when traditions, community beliefs, and environmental issues are unheeded.
January 4, 2023
On curating Slam Poetry Nights for Dhaka Lit Fest tomorrow
The most moving part about these poetry sessions is the conversations.
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