Star Books Report

Shantona Shantuma: A pioneering manga artist duo in Bangladesh

The ambition was to popularise Bangladeshi manga. At first the initiative was voluntary but later they succeeded to commercialise the publication.

2d ago

UPL Summer Book Fair 2023 underway

Some of UPL’s best selling titles include 'Political Parties in India' (2022) by Abdul Razzaq and a Bangla translation of Yuval Noah Harari’s 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind' (2014).

5d ago

Random House Canada accepting open submissions from underrepresented writers

Following submission, the editorial team will respond to writers they are interested within six months.

1w ago

A Rajshahi University scholar who has helped little magazines thrive

Four little magazines have been published under his editorship.

1w ago

Bengal Institute to hold nonfiction writing workshop

Participants at the workshop will be introduced to a variety of texts and materials on these topics. It will focus on writing as both craft and concept, how to think about them to write about them.

1w ago

Commonwealth Short Story Prize ’23 regional winners announced

This year’s submissions included the first ever stories from Togo and Gabon, the newest members of the Commonwealth.

1w ago

‘Time Shelter’ the first Bulgarian novel to win International Booker Prize

"The book is a profound work that deals with a very contemporary question: What happens to us when our memories disappear?", said judge Leila Slimani.

2w ago

“It’s nice to be back—as opposed to not being back, which was also a possibility”: Salman Rushdie

Rushdie’s surprise appearance was the highlight of an eventful month for PEN, the literary and free expression organisation that has been in the middle—by choice and otherwise—of various conflicts.

2w ago

Sehri Tales in person—with Sister Library this time

An evening storytelling and writing around the "chimera that is memory", organized by Sister Library and Sehri Tales.

3w ago

ULAB Press seeking manuscripts to publish

ULAB Press will published PhD monographs, original research, translations of seminal texts, creative works and textbooks, as well as manuscripts comprising photography of cultural heritage or national significance.

3w ago

Reading for Mother’s Day at Shahabuddin park

The event is being organised on Saturday, May 13 in celebration of Mother’s Day, at The Bookworm located in Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed Park in Gulshan 2.

Gabriel García Márquez’s unseen novel will be published next year

The novel, which will span around 150 pages, tells the story of a woman named Ana Magdalena Bach, who visits a tropical island to lay flowers on her mother’s grave, and ends up having an affair.

Amitav Ghosh's new book will revisit the 19th century opium trade

The book traces the transformative impact that the opium trade had on India, China, Britain and the United States, with profound long-term consequences for the birth of the modern world, and of contemporary globalism.

Nadeem Zaman’s ‘The Inheritors’ to be produced for the screen by Sharbari Zohra Ahmed

Quantico writer Sharbari Zohra Ahmed will produce Nadeem Zaman's Gatsby-inspired novel set in Dhaka.

SAJIDA Foundation, CholPori team up to improve child education

The startup is currently implementing pilot models with schools across the country to digitize classroom learning.

Neil Gaiman and Colleen Hoover in 'Time' Magazine’s 2023 Most Influential list

The author’s work has been adapted in various mediums, including graphic novels and television series, with the most recent being Netflix’s The Sandman (2022).

Dhaka’s Arman Chowdhury shortlisted for Commonwealth Short Story Prize ‘23

“Deficiency Notice” presents the daily life of an 11-year-old boy who is speech-impaired

Penguin unveils the Penguin Book Vending Machine

The titles in the vending machines will be updated regularly, including both new and old books, and will highlight books relevant towards contemporary issues.

A new children’s book depicts the warmth and diversity of Ramadan

Five chapters, each centred around key values of Islam, narrated by young Falak

Discovered Tolkien letters reveal new sides of his work

The correspondence was part of an exchange between Tolkien and the British Council about funding for his research collaboration with his former Oxford student, Simonne d’Ardenne.

Iowa’s International Writing Program now open to Bangladeshi youth

The virtual creative writing summer camp will take place from July 8 to 21, 2023. Applications are due by April 21.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s first short story collection in 15 years

The latest bent in Jhumpa Lahiri's decades-long foray into Italian life and literature

The University Press Limited heads to Chittagong

On Saturday, March 18, UPL will inaugurate its new sales centre in Chittagong at Jamal Khan Road’s Sanmar Spring Garden.

5 new books to read this week

Set in the backdrop of a nameless forest, the narrative of the play 'Ekti Moragachh O Charjon Narir Shopnobhongo' revolves around characters of William Shakespeare’s creation.

Grow Your Reader Foundation raises the 'Flag of Peace'

Grow Your Reader Foundation instals mobile, street, and online library stations in different corners of Bangladesh, and has been providing teacher training facilities since 2016.

Love the Oscars winners? Here’s what you should read

The book behind the Oscar-winning adaptations, and books about the history of the award

Ghazala Wahab to speak at ULAB Lit Salon on Tuesday

Also a journalist, Wahab will speak about her nonfiction, Born A Muslim, a book that talks about the increasing political irrelevance of Muslims in India and the importance of feminist interpretations of the Quran, besides highlighting other relevant socio political issues.

What to look forward to in the Gulshan Society Book Fair 3

Star Literature will be hosting a short story reading session moderated by Sarah Anjum Bari, the Books and Literary Editor of The Daily Star, on Friday at 4PM.

‘We are the only species to have threatened life on the planet’: Dipesh Chakrabarty

Historian Dipesh Chakrabarty discusses human and geological evolution in an exclusive conversation with The Daily Star

The significance of Dipesh Chakrabarty’s work with history

“The real history of this region is known in Dipesh Chakrabarty's history books,” said historian and essayist Professor Ahmed Kamal.

Journalist Rashel Mahmud publishes book after eight years

"The first book I had published comprised a short story. My second book of short stories came out 14 years after that", the writer said.

The ins and outs of banking, simplified

“I got the courage to start writing and felt that, if the market practices and regulations of a particular issue are in one place it may help the bankers, customers as well as students”, the author writes.

Poetry without name

Poet and researcher Emran Mahfuz's untitled poetry book Mukhoshpora Pathshala has been released in this year’s Amar Ekushey Book Fair.

A novel of war and love

50 years pass but Tanes still carries Zohra's photograph and letter in his chest pocket.

A Love Affair with Books

This Valentine's Day, we're swooning over books - the joy and the power they bring to a whole spectrum of readers, from teachers to editors, writers and book bloggers.

How is this year's Boi Mela coping with crisis?

How are publications, writers and readers coping with rising costs?

Dalit poet Sukirtharani rejects award from Adani

Sukirtharani, a poet from Tamil Nadu whose works of literature explore the lives of Dalit women in India, has refused to accept the Devi Award in a recent award ceremony.

Salman Rushdie releases new novel six months after stabbing attack

"All I've seen is his idiotic interview in the New York Post," said Rushdie about his attacker. "Which only an idiot would do."

Bengali ‘anti-novelist’ Subimal Misra no more

Bengali author Subimal Misra, 80, breathed his last at 4:50 AM on Wednesday.

'I sit down to write, and nothing happens': Salman Rushdie

"I write, but it’s a combination of blankness and junk", Salman Rushdie tells New Yorker's David Remnick.

The bookstore in the park: Bookworm opens in Gulshan 2

“The books launched and discussed at the Dhaka Lit Fest are on their way”, store owner Amina Rahman informed Daily Star Books.

Young writers and poets awarded by IFIC Bank and ‘Kali O Kalam’

The prestigious Kali O Kalam Torun Kabi O Lekhak Puroshkar 2022 was conferred on January 28 at an award ceremony at Bengal Shilpalay in Dhanmondi, Dhaka.

A recollection of dedication and integrity: Matiul Islam launches his second memoir

“A hero of history – every page of his life is like that of a novel, full of stories,” said actor and director Afzal Hossain, while introducing the first finance secretary of Bangladesh Md Matiul Islam.

Kaamil Ahmed publishes ‘first book-length exploration’ of Rohingya lives abroad

I Feel No Peace is the latest in this string of books exploring the Rohingya experience. It offers, in particular, a narrative account of their history and their experience with NGOs and the UN.

Recognising excellence in translation

Saleha Chowdhury has been nominated in the Ajibon Shommanona (Lifetime Award 2022) category. Translators Venkateswar Ramaswamy and Shahroza Nahrin were jointly nominated in the Borshoshera Onudito Boi 2022 (Best Translated Book of the Year 2022) category.