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.

5m 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.

5m 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

‘Luminaries of the Word’: Student designs video game on Bangladeshi women writers

"I selected excerpts from eight famous works, books like Begum Rokeya’s 'Motichur' and 'Ekattorer Diary' by Sufia Kamal, and expanded on their implied or intended meaning as best as I could."

3y ago

After I Go

After I go

3y ago

“The Baby”

In the chilly winter night as I walked past the forest, I heard a feeble crying of a baby. I shivered in my warm clothes.

3y ago

For fans of ‘Heartstopper’, an Alice Oseman reading guide

I wanted to share my personal reading order of Alice’s work and a glance into what you can expect from each.

3y ago

The Myth Bridge: Goethe Institut Bangladesh and HerStory Foundation revisit women of folklore through Dungeons and Dragons

Going live from May 15 is The Myth Bridge, a live-action simulation game that “[brings] to life” and connects nine women characters from Bengali and German folklore. 

3y ago

UPL launches book, ‘Millennial Generation in Bangladesh’

The book in question, according to the blurb on UPL’s website, asks noteworthy questions like, “How do [Millennials] identify themselves in the social and national contexts and how can the nation's framework work for their life strategy?” 

3y ago

My Defeat

Life is a battlefield. Every living species fights a different battle; therefore, I can only talk about mine.

3y ago

Tracing the Roots

When I look back to find the definitive moment when my writing habits took root, I can’t find it. It is a distant vanishing point from which everything radiated, or maybe there was not a single point or node from where it all began.

3y ago

Taslima blasts literature award for Mamata: 'Kolkata's writers, artists are sold out'

Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has criticised the choice of Paschimbanga Bangla Academy to confer West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a literature award and alleged that “Kolkata's writers, artists and intellectuals are all sold out.”

3y ago

The 'idol-breaker' of Iran: poet Forough Farrokhzad

She would be the first woman in the history of Persian literature to publish poems that spoke openly of women, sexuality, longings, and equality.

3y ago