Not quite what we were expecting

Dear Readers,

We promised to go big for our fifth year, but we haven't even begun to unveil our big plans, before being overwhelmed by the sheer response from our participants.

This time we're seeing as many writers sending in work in Bangla as English, and the variety has been truly impressive. We're seeing more of our veteran Talers step out of their comfort zones to try new things. Sara Kabir's experiment with poetry, Shamima Nasrin Liza's first haiku, and Rima Sharmin Radcliffe's departure from her dark themes into pure comedy are some worth mentioning. And it's not just the writing. Our Sehri Tale artists have come out in full force to paint pictures with pixels and pigments, and we've received some truly top-notch entries.

As we inch towards a normal we once took for granted, themes like burnout and frustration seem to be trending this year. Marwa Kazi Mohammed's meditation on the disappointments of adulthood remains my favourite piece so far in this regard. I can't wait to see what this month has in store for us.

We'll be unveiling some of our grand surprises very soon, but for now, I am happy to announce our first collaboration of the season: with DIYer, purveyors of some of the prettiest notebooks and journals out there in the market. More details of this collab will be up soon, so stay tuned.  We hope you've been enjoying our featured stories online every day. Until next week, best wishes, and stay hydrated!