This is an excerpt from Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's short story "Abhishapta", translated by Dipty Rahman
Protecting translation is a commitment to fostering empathy, understanding, and creativity in a globalised yet divided world.
When I come to you, I become a tree Trees have roots
Healthy water-bodies are sunk by envy-blind waste’s outburst
Irrespective of the ambivalence that marks Metaphysical poetry of the 17th century, Selim marvels us with his choice of words and precision of utterance.
After the previous tenant vacated the house, Khan E Alam decided not to accommodate any younger residents.
I wove necklaces of lyrics/ Which you'd wear beautifully
You know how that day the wind brought out/ The crazy thoughts I had in me all the while.
You called me close in the moments of grace/ Veiling my delicate senses
The yard in this noontime is buzzing with/ The white aroma of the guava flower
Review of the Bangla translation of ‘A Strange Library’ (Knopf, 2014) by Haruki Murakami
The winners were announced on 4 April, 2024, with the ceremony being hosted by Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, chairman of the SZBA Board of Trustees
A review of ‘Temple Lamp: Verses on Banaras’ (India Penguin Classics, 2023) by Mirza Ghalib, translated by Maaz Bin Bilal
A translation of Ahmed Sofa's essay on Dostoyevsky
The challenge of untranslatability is something that the translator has to contend with throughout the process of the enterprise.
Speakers talked about the losses and the gains of the meaning of text after having undergone translation, about the responsibility and the power that a translator holds in taking an author’s words and transforming it for a different reader base.
Shahaduz Zaman is a familiar face in Bangladeshi literature, whose literary career spans decades of fruitful work. He regularly writes columns for Bangla newspapers, has written a few notable biographical fiction, such as Ekjon Komolalebu (Prothoma, 2017), based around the life of Jibanananda Das, and has garnered some duly needed appreciation for ethnographic work on the history of medicine during the liberation war.
My introduction to the Bangla translation of Japanese books happened during my visit to Baatighar Chittagong. It was there that I encountered the Bangla translations of works by one of my favourite Japanese writers, Haruki Murakami, back in 2021. Then last year, I found myself enchanted with the promise of Morisaki Boighorer Dinguli (Abosar Prokashona, 2023); the allure of the black edition of the book boasting ebony pages and stunning artwork had me yearning for the book months before its scheduled release.
Shimu and Tushar had grown up together on an alley in the Mirpur area of Dhaka city. Their neighbouring houses were separated only by a brick wall, about two meters high. The branches of a tree growing beside Tushar’s house overhung the wall, its foliage shading a part of Shimu’s courtyard.