creative writing
ESSAY / ‘The day begins wrong’: Mastering tension and suspense in fiction
In my creative writing classes, whether at the University of Toronto or the Hermitage Residency in Bangladesh, I emphasise that any student of fiction must first master suspense
Talespeople Spiels / A house a bit bigger on the inside
Playing with a location that seems real but is not is a tricky line to negotiate, and writer beware: you will be attacked
ESSAY / To read as an academic: The transformative journey of a reader turned student
I became curious as to how the experience of reading might change for someone who studied it for a living, and how the lens of a literature student might differ from that of a creative writing one
ESSAY / The first semester is your shitty first draft
Like many veterans, I joined a creative writing MFA program because I wanted to evolve as a writer.
CREATIVE NONFICTION / Patuatuli and a young girl’s love for glasses
My love affair with spectacles has long been regarded by my mother as nothing but a symptom of my dramatic nature.
CREATIVE NONFICTION / Homeward
When I was born, my skin was dark, like my grandfather’s, in whose arms I discovered my first home. Relatives old and new, whose disappointment was being nursed by my parents’ fair complexions, looked from afar as my rotund cheeks melted into the sleeves of my dada’s discolored half-sleeve shirt.
OPINION / What you call your own
As an Anglophone writer in Bangladesh, I’ve frequently faced the rather inane question of why I write in English.
Pandemic Nocturne 1: December Dirge
Ask me not of Grief. For I have been burnt by its friendly fire with blood and bits of oozing mortal flesh spun flaky and ashen by its biting cold breath.
ULAB Creative Writing Certificate Course returns
This year’s sessions will be facilitated by eminent academics, writers, and professionals in their field, such as Professor Kaiser Haq, Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam, Professor Azfar Hussain, Professor Shamsad Mortuza, Arifa Ghani Rahman, and Maisha Hossain.
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
‘Candle’: Sehri Tales selections, Day 2
The top selections in poetry, flash fiction and artwork for Day 2 of the Sehri Tales challenge; prompt: Candle.
Take note: How note-taking can come in handy when you’re short of inspiration
Watch this print space for the Talespeople's weekly reflections on creative writing.
‘Begin’: Sehri Tales selections, Day 1
The top selections in poetry, flash fiction and artwork for Day 1 of the Sehri Tales challenge; prompt: Begin
Everything you need to know about Sehri Tales 2023
Sehri Tales has established itself as a Ramadan tradition for writers in Bangladesh. The rules are simple: each night at midnight, for the entire month leading up to Eid-ul-Fitr, Ahmad shares a prompt, and participants have until 6 AM (sunrise) to write original poetry, flash fiction, or create unique art, and then share it online with the hashtag #sehritales2023.
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.
‘The language movement did not reject the importance of dialects’: Syed Manzoorul Islam
Professor Islam sheds light on English writing in Bangladesh, its future, and the influence of the language movement on the Bangladeshi psyche.
6 UK small presses that consider unsolicited submissions
This means you can submit a manuscript on your own, without a literary agent.
Unpacking the craft of creative writing
If you are reaching out to an agent, go and find out exactly what sort of work that agent publishes. Also, think in terms of what would differentiate your work with the work of 39 other authors.
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.