Into the world of speculative fiction: An Interview with 'Small World City'
This past August, Dhaka’s speculative fiction magazine 'Small World City' enjoyed their first anniversary. The magazine, over this last year, has published some of the more striking works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry coming out of the country
2m ago
A case for funding the Bangladeshi English-writing scene
If the country’s literary potential is not given generous support, we may never create favourable conditions for aspiring writers to devote time and energy to the art
8m ago
A country coming to life
Weaving the grand themes of politics and history, the book is a revelation into how the ordinary lives within a country are buffeted by constant changes.
8m ago
Explosive speculative fiction in the latest issue of ‘Small World City’
What struck me the most about these stories is the firm, unflinching, and confident authorial voice sneaking up on and dictating the reader’s thoughts, orienting them to feel sympathy for the characters no matter how unlikeable they are.
11m ago
4 fully funded Creative Writing MFA programs in the US worth exploring
While Canada, and now some programs in the UK, have also started offering the degree, it is in the United States that it is most common and rigorous.
1y ago
6 UK small presses that consider unsolicited submissions
This means you can submit a manuscript on your own, without a literary agent.
1y ago
A fellowship of humanity and the wild
Martell’s narrative journalism is a lesson for those in the field as to how a writer can instil empathy for the others around. The reader can taste affection for both the animals and humans in his storytelling.
1y ago
Local publishers, sales, and the 2023 Dhaka Lit Fest
This year a ticketing system was imposed. As such, sales were lower than expected.
1y ago
November 29, 2018
The best court in the world
Aung lives with her father in a lush, hilly district of a coastal division where narrow concrete roads bleed through the green, rising hills, twisting and turning.
November 24, 2018
The Haven Searchers
I often see death hovering above everything, sticking out its tentacles, and taking someone in its mouth on a whim. Its belly is swollen with the lives it has consumed and its mouth drips with the sorrows of those. It is an invisible (to the mortals) aerial creature. It flies fast despite being so heavy. It is omnipresent, and in the ocean, it is as visible as a boat shaped moon on a mirror-like pond.
October 25, 2018
The Fault in Our Bookstores
I don't remember the last time I could eye a book from my wish-list in the local stores. Novels by emerging voices, shortlisted for Man Booker, Pulitzer, and other prestigious prizes are barely seen.
October 18, 2018
Of war and its aftermath
If you lived in Rwanda during the 20th century, you would often be asked about your tribe. It could either be the majority Hutu or the minority Tutsi. Back then, they used to coexist with the rising tensions among them.
October 12, 2018
A day on the Shitalakhya
Though it's a sunny Friday morning, the concrete Gulistan flyover renders the landscape gunmetal, where I'm to meet Shohag Mohajon, the manager of Clean River Bangladesh. Almost 20 minutes of miscommunication later, I manage to find him in a sea of speedy civilians. We exchange greetings and get on the waiting bus.
October 11, 2018
Things you shouldn't miss about school
If you are someone who is done with school and still reminisces about the old memories for the sake of nostalgic pleasure, you should take notes from this article because we all know that your 'school kid' version dreaded many things about school despite repeating often how you took that life for granted.
October 4, 2018
What it's like being the broke one in your squad
Being the broke friend usually means being dragged down back to the ground by your empty wallet while trying to fly in the “financially stable” sky, hoping to splurge on food with friends, it also means becoming a machine that churns worn-out excuses every time something fun is planned.
September 27, 2018
Space Turtle
The plastic bag was somehow separated from its diverse herd floating in the Caribbean. After the separation, it became a lone traveller, a sea nomad. Its pearly white, transparent skin blessed it with the feature of a jellyfish.
September 8, 2018
An Ode to Arundhati Roy
Whenever I think of Arundhati Roy, I am reminded of afternoons on the rooftop with soothing breeze and neighbourhood pigeons circling the sky.
September 6, 2018
The snake that fell ill
Back when the river used to zigzag through the village's green skin like a sky blue snake and uninvited things did not invade the ambience, Anjum would drive his cattle to the water body for temporary relief from the unbearable heat. His daughter Roop would follow him too on the holidays; sometimes even skip school for this activity.
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