Bangladeshi literature

ESSAY / On wars and words

These words are not just some veils adorning the valour and victory of our freedom fighters; they're not just tributes but testaments to the rare occasion of the oppressed overpowering the oppressor.

“Fragile Things”: How ghosts and spirituality make it into writing

Participants, including the show’s hosts and guests, picked up discarded pebbles, photo frames, children’s artwork, and other knick knacks—all fragile things collected and displayed by the author. 

Akhteruzzaman Elias: There is always an other to be purged

Shill edited the present volume as a rich collection of memories and evaluations of Akhteruzzaman Elias by his friends and relatives, some renowned literary figures of the Bangla language, as well as some occasional thoughts by Elias himself.

Boats against the current: Reconciling the Dhaka of old with the new

Nadeem Zaman’s The Inheritors retells and recontextualizes one of the most famous stories there ever was—F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925).

Memories of Eid and ‘Dipu Number Two’

One of my most vivid memories growing up was discovering the joys of reading during one train journey to Rajshahi, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal's novel of childhood adventures

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

THE SHELF / 5 new books to start the new year with

Someone has to pay the price when traditions, community beliefs, and environmental issues are unheeded. 

INTERVIEW / In Iffat Nawaz’s debut novel, 1971 is not an open wound

Shurjo’s Clan uses magic realism to conjure Shurjomukhi’s freedom fighter uncles, who were martyred in Sylhet’s tea gardens during the 1971 Liberation War, and her grandmother, who took her own life shortly after the 1947 Partition. 

BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / 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. 

December 14, 2023
December 14, 2023

On wars and words

These words are not just some veils adorning the valour and victory of our freedom fighters; they're not just tributes but testaments to the rare occasion of the oppressed overpowering the oppressor.

July 7, 2023
July 7, 2023

“Fragile Things”: How ghosts and spirituality make it into writing

Participants, including the show’s hosts and guests, picked up discarded pebbles, photo frames, children’s artwork, and other knick knacks—all fragile things collected and displayed by the author. 

April 27, 2023
April 27, 2023

Akhteruzzaman Elias: There is always an other to be purged

Shill edited the present volume as a rich collection of memories and evaluations of Akhteruzzaman Elias by his friends and relatives, some renowned literary figures of the Bangla language, as well as some occasional thoughts by Elias himself.

April 27, 2023
April 27, 2023

Boats against the current: Reconciling the Dhaka of old with the new

Nadeem Zaman’s The Inheritors retells and recontextualizes one of the most famous stories there ever was—F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925).

April 24, 2023
April 24, 2023

Memories of Eid and ‘Dipu Number Two’

One of my most vivid memories growing up was discovering the joys of reading during one train journey to Rajshahi, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal's novel of childhood adventures

April 6, 2023
April 6, 2023

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

January 5, 2023
January 5, 2023

5 new books to start the new year with

Someone has to pay the price when traditions, community beliefs, and environmental issues are unheeded. 

November 18, 2022
November 18, 2022

In Iffat Nawaz’s debut novel, 1971 is not an open wound

Shurjo’s Clan uses magic realism to conjure Shurjomukhi’s freedom fighter uncles, who were martyred in Sylhet’s tea gardens during the 1971 Liberation War, and her grandmother, who took her own life shortly after the 1947 Partition. 

November 3, 2022
November 3, 2022

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. 

October 20, 2022
October 20, 2022

What I write about when I write love stories

A long time ago, when I was a young writer who had just published his first collection of short stories and had just been married to a young and lovely woman, I wrote a love story in the first person, which created two unanticipated problems.