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
4m 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.
5m 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
November 26, 2015
What We Want from a Lit Fest
For the past few years, November has been engaging us in a spectrum of festivals highlighting pop culture, literature, classical, folk and jazz music.
October 29, 2015
Learning To Live and Laugh
When people we love meet their ends through chronic illnesses or sudden accidents, we find a way amid the misery to accept the circumstances – circumstances that were out of our hands.
August 6, 2015
Gifts for Grandparents
There are some items in all our homes that are both neglected and sacred.
July 16, 2015
Writing as Healing
Ernest Hemingway had said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” For millions around the world, writing – a hobby, a profession and an art form – really does feel like bleeding on paper. But of late, we've stopped to notice how all that bled ink has the power to do more than inform or entertain. It has the power to heal.
July 9, 2015
Art: Where is it born?
Scenes that an artist dreams of, reads about or lives through are all things that make canvasses come alive. For many, music is a major source of inspiration, as is the case for Zoheb Mashiur.
June 11, 2015
Lost In Translation
Language remains the most beautiful of our creations.
June 4, 2015
Movies for Lit-Lovers
For every tiny thing each of us is passionate about, there exists a “movies” list.
May 14, 2015
GPA and Happiness – Correlated?
Doing well in academics requires different circumstances for different people.
April 9, 2015
Ways in Which University Changes You
It's not all about academics.
April 2, 2015
THE ENCHANTED SEA
Childhoods are built on memories. Both good and bad ones. By some luck Aizah had been blessed with mostly the good kind, courtesy of a fantastic family.
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