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Sunday, March 8, 2026
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Shah Tazrian Ashrafi

a-guardian-and-a-thief.jpg

BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / When the waters rise and the food disappears

6 August 2025, 18:00 PM
The quote above seems to capture the heart of this novel set in a near-future dystopian Kolkata rendered uninhabitable by political corruption, inequality, and the ominous package of climate crisis–floods, famine, overheating.
6 August 2025, 18:00 PM
Small world city team

INTERVIEW / Into the world of speculative fiction: An Interview with 'Small World City'

3 September 2024, 14:30 PM
This past August, Dhaka’s speculative fiction magazine 'Small World City' enjoyed their first anniversary. The magazine, over this last year, has published some of the more striking works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry coming out of the country
3 September 2024, 14:30 PM
bangladeshi writing in english

A case for funding the Bangladeshi English-writing scene

27 March 2024, 14:00 PM
If the country’s literary potential is not given generous support, we may never create favourable conditions for aspiring writers to devote time and energy to the art
27 March 2024, 14:00 PM
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BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / A country coming to life

13 March 2024, 13:45 PM
Weaving the grand themes of politics and history, the book is a revelation into how the ordinary lives within a country are buffeted by constant changes.
13 March 2024, 13:45 PM
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REVIEW: LITERARY MAGAZINE / Explosive speculative fiction in the latest issue of ‘Small World City’

11 December 2023, 13:55 PM
What struck me the most about these stories is the firm, unflinching, and confident authorial voice sneaking up on and dictating the reader’s thoughts, orienting them to feel sympathy for the characters no matter how unlikeable they are.
11 December 2023, 13:55 PM
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4 fully funded Creative Writing MFA programs in the US worth exploring

2 April 2023, 12:45 PM
While Canada, and now some programs in the UK, have also started offering the degree, it is in the United States that it is most common and rigorous.
2 April 2023, 12:45 PM
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6 UK small presses that consider unsolicited submissions

24 February 2023, 04:00 AM
This means you can submit a manuscript on your own, without a literary agent.
24 February 2023, 04:00 AM
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A fellowship of humanity and the wild

22 February 2023, 18:54 PM
Martell’s narrative journalism is a lesson for those in the field as to how a writer can instil empathy for the others around. The reader can taste affection for both the animals and humans in his storytelling.
22 February 2023, 18:54 PM
disconnect

A collection tinged with variety

Disconnect is an anthology comprised of 20 short stories, edited by Aadiyat Ahmad, Kazi Akib Bin Asad, Rumman R Kalam, and Zoheb Mashiur.
15 November 2017, 18:00 PM
skinny guy

A day in the life of a skinny guy

Shafi thinks it's high time the world talked about the struggles that came saran wrapped with a skinny body. But to his sadness, everyone only talks about how they have gained so much weight and how the fat is hell bent in staying settled in the abdomen.
8 November 2017, 18:00 PM
A love letter to winter

A love letter to winter

Your arrival itself is like a festival in my country.
8 November 2017, 18:00 PM
Hope among other things

Hope among other things

An empty canvas is a horrible thing,
8 November 2017, 18:00 PM
Bangladeshi book clubs you should follow

Bangladeshi book clubs you should follow

While the non-bookworms will find it boring to point out the flaws of Rupi Kaur's poetry and relish JK Rowling's works, book-nerds can now share their thoughts and crack humour with a group of like-minded individuals instead of suffocating themselves with their own opinions.
1 November 2017, 18:00 PM
A novel swinging back and  forth through time

A novel swinging back and forth through time

Set in the North of London in the beginning, Zadie Smith's fifth novel, “Swing Time”, tells us the story of two childhood friends whose paths diverge as they grow up, and the challenges of growing up fuel the diversion.
25 October 2017, 18:00 PM
Heaven in the Sky

Heaven in the Sky

The lamp's frail light cut the darkness in yellow rays. And the cramped house with broken furniture spoke of poverty.
25 October 2017, 18:00 PM
She Who Remembers

She Who Remembers

I saw her scavenging the streets lined with shops, bustling with vehicles, complemented by smokes crawling up the air. The sun had set, and the gloom was cut by the yellow rays emerging from the light poles.
18 October 2017, 18:00 PM
poet.jpg

Rebel Poet

One day he will sing his song.
13 October 2017, 18:00 PM
An arson in utopia

An arson in utopia

“Most communities just happen; the best are planned” - is the motto of a perfectionist community, Shaker Heights.
11 October 2017, 18:00 PM
Sleepless

Sleepless

Eyes are wonderful. At times, they remain wide open and welcome all the light that the universe has to offer. Also at times, they flutter shut only to consume the darkness that is necessary to sink into a pillow and float in a colorful void.
4 October 2017, 18:00 PM
EVOLUTION

EVOLUTION

After the meteors robbed the earth of its glory, life decided to brew again with all its might. Organisms never gave in to destruction. The sun thought she would wipe away the ball of oceans and mountains that circled her.
27 September 2017, 18:00 PM
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Sankofa

Nadia lived some 3000 miles away from home. The mountains and oceans were the obstacles. Though she conversed with her mum a lot over the phone, it didn't serve the inexplicable pleasure of lacing her hands around her back and clutching her in a tight hug.
13 September 2017, 18:00 PM
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When 12 hours feel timeless

After the massive success of Nicola Yoon's debut novel “Everything Everything”, she gifts her fans a young adult romance that is not a sappy story of love winning in the end.
13 September 2017, 18:00 PM
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