Books

Books

BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / The making of Bangladesh in the global sixties

“Mr Speaker Sir, what did Bangalee intend to achieve? What rights did Bangalee want to possess? We do not need to discuss and decide on them now [after independence]. [We] tried to press our demands after the so called 1947 independence. Each of our days and years with Pakistan was an episode of bloodied history; a record of struggle for our rights,” said Tajuddin Ahmad on October 30, 1972 in the Constituent Assembly. He commented on the proposed draft constitution for Bangladesh, which was adopted on November 4, 1972.

4m ago

BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / An outlandish jumble of cults, cannibalism, and colonial violence

Melissa Lozada-Oliva takes us on a bumpy apocalyptic horror ride in her debut novel Candelaria. Spanning across three generations of women, the novel ushers together an unsettled past and an even more bizarre present.

4m ago

ESSAY / 'A terrible beauty is born' in Gaza and West Bank

Pre-occupation Palestine had, to use Anglo-American poet WH Auden's words, "marble well-governed cities" full of "vines and olive trees." But Israel and its allies have turned it into "an artificial wilderness"

4m ago

BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / ‘Apni Ki Alien Dekhte Chan?’: A debut with immense possibility

Review of ‘Apni Ki Alien Dekhte Chan?’ (Afsar Brothers, 2024) by Wasif Noor

4m ago

BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / From protests to power: The journey to Bangladesh’s July Uprising

Over the past couple of decades, Bangladesh has witnessed three significant social and political movements that have shaped the course of its history.

4m ago

THE SHELF / Literature thrives beyond the centre too

“All literature is regional; or conversely, no literature is regional”—is a common sentiment to have today, but I had first read those lines from Joyce Carol Oates, in her preface to a book of stories by one of Canada’s most gifted storytellers, Alistair MacLeod. In MacLeod’s short stories, his Cape Breton Island was a refrain through which the momentous lives of his ordinary characters came through.

4m ago

ESSAY / Between tradition and taboo: The arranged marriage trope in Bangla dark romance literature

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not endorse or condone any form of abuse or exploitation.

5m ago

EVENT REPORT / Celebrating diversity and language at “Bhasha Utshob 2025”

Gulshan Society held a two-day language festival at the Gulshan Lake Park, curated by Sadaf Saaz and Jatrik. The event took place over the weekend of 21-22 February that saw discussion panels, original musical performances, and poetry recitations, surrounded by an array of book stalls and food courts.

5m ago

Lawyers say plagiarism claims over ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ are unfounded

On October 4, this year’s Booker Prize winning author Shehan Karunatilaka posted on his social media that a claim has been made by a “journalist from Colombo” that the idea for his novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida was “stolen”.

2y ago

“I also have Bengali blood in my veins”

It was November 18, 2017, when the Delhi-based Scottish historian William Dalrymple came to participate in the ‘Dhaka Lit Fest.’ Ridwan Akram spoke to the author of the books, White Mughals and The Last Mughal. This interview throws light on Mr. Dalrymple’s thoughts, writing, personal life, and Indian history.

2y ago

Festival of Memories

Bulldozed brick by brick, my childhood was torn apart by tears streaming down the stone facade as my house collapsed.

2y ago

Weike Wang's ‘Joan Is Okay’ tells the story of an antisocial millennial

Joan has always felt not American enough for America and not Chinese enough for China. As a transnational immigrant, even her work ethic is assessed in a dehumanising way.

2y ago

Loneliness, and what I gained from a Creative Writing degree

The workshops were the sessions I’d look forward to. Someone actually reading your work, studying it, telling you what you do well, telling you what you can improve on, all phrased constructively (“I like this!” was a banned phrase). If you’re pursuing writing, workshopping—on some level or another—is what you’ll need.

2y ago

Life in modern Dhaka as portrayed in 'A Strange Coincidence and Other Stories'

The 11 short stories encompass a number of ideas, mainly the binary oppositions of the human psyche, all covering the inner conflicts of human life. 

2y ago

NSU to host international conference: 'Ruptures and Resilience: English Studies in the Now'

Organisers told The Daily Star, “We expect this conference to be a grand event for showcasing theoretical ideas and cutting-edge research in the fields of literature, linguistics, and English teaching”.

2y ago

'Women and Work in South Asia' explores feminism through a South Asian lens

Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhary’s chapter on the trafficking of women, with a focus on India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, teases out the differences in the lived experiences of the Adivasi, Dalit, and other marginalised women. 

2y ago

‘A platform for erasing the cancelling of the other’: ULAB’s Inter-University Student Conference

The 2022 Inter-University Student Conference and Cultural Competition explored different facets of conflict and avenues for conflict resolution on topics within literature, language, linguistics, cultural studies, communication studies, translation studies, and digital humanities.

2y ago