Translation
BOOK REVIEW: POETRY / About romances ever-appealing
Irrespective of the ambivalence that marks Metaphysical poetry of the 17th century, Selim marvels us with his choice of words and precision of utterance.
FICTION / Jishu
After the previous tenant vacated the house, Khan E Alam decided not to accommodate any younger residents.
POETRY / Anonto prem
I wove necklaces of lyrics/ Which you'd wear beautifully
POETRY / Shedin dujone dulachinu bone
You know how that day the wind brought out/ The crazy thoughts I had in me all the while.
POETRY / Je chilo amar shopnocharini
You called me close in the moments of grace/ Veiling my delicate senses
POETRY / Narcolepsy days
For poet Abul Hasan Neither the pen nor the camera has changed
POETRY / Saree
The yard in this noontime is buzzing with/ The white aroma of the guava flower
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / The strange library of Haruki Murakami
Review of the Bangla translation of ‘A Strange Library’ (Knopf, 2014) by Haruki Murakami
EVENT REPORT / Sheikh Zayed Book Award announces winners for the 18th edition
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
“Dostoevsky” by Ahmed Sofa
A translation of Ahmed Sofa's essay on Dostoyevsky
Of translation
The challenge of untranslatability is something that the translator has to contend with throughout the process of the enterprise.
Anubad Sahitya Puraskar 2024: Celebrating the achievements of translators
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.
The enchanting realism in Shahaduz Zaman’s ‘The Mynah Bird’s Testimony’
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.
Aimless in Morisaki bookshop
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.
Wings Across A City Wall
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.
Diasporic delusions
Self-confidence shaken, some shattered memories in their side bags
Memoirs of our unsung heroes
Massacre, murder, torture, violence, bayonet, bloodshed, grenade, displacement, death—these words bring to mind a war scenario.
Emily Wilson’s ‘The Iliad’ is a triumph in translation
Wilson hasn’t written a retelling from the perspectives of the subjugated but has rather been true to the original, although she doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the sheer misogyny of the Homeric period.
The question of translation
There is no denying the truism that translation historically served the best interest of the colonisers.