The fading appeal of the Eid magazine

Long before Pinterest boards and Instagram FYP, the Eid shongkha dictated what we wore.
9 hour(s) ago

Hope, doubts, and the fate of this year’s Amar Ekushey Boi Mela

Even after the organisers and Bangla Academy offered a 55 percent subsidy on stall costs, a significant number of publishers maintained their decision to not participate.
19 February 2026, 19:01 PM

Bangladesh Theater Archives: Transforming history into a 40-year legacy

In a small room in 50 Purana Paltan line, shelves groan under the weight of posters, photographs, tickets, flyers, souvenirs, folders, books, and fading documents.
31 January 2026, 08:28 AM

Peeking into authors’ mailbox: My year of reading letters

I never considered reading authors’ letters. “How can personal letters be considered literature?”–I thought.
10 January 2026, 00:00 AM

Hibari’s Morning: Shedding light on an uncomfortable reality

This story spans for two volumes, separated in 14 chapters. Yet the author deliberately gives the reader the insight into other characters, or rather the abettors before Hibari, the victim herself. It is only in the later chapters do we catch a glimpse of Hibari’s inner world, and it is heartbreaking.
8 January 2026, 12:49 PM

Grief, guilt, and memories in the pages of Annie Ernaux’s ‘A Woman’s Story’

There are two things that struck me the most in the book: firstly, Eranux's thoughts during the funeral, and secondly, her statement about her mother’s appearance after Alzheimer's Disease had gripped her.
4 January 2026, 13:34 PM

The risk of becoming: Notes on translation and transformation

Translation is risk, and poetry is the highest form of risk
7 November 2025, 18:33 PM

Autumnal offerings for seasonal readers

As summer draws to an end in the Northern hemisphere, a certain kind of booklover prepares to shift to the next set of items on their TBR (To Be Read) list. Because whether or not you are a fan of spooky stories, the arrival of autumn–and with it, Halloween–evokes in many a sense of seasonal cre
17 October 2025, 18:58 PM

‘She and Her Cat’ and the quiet power of presence

The cats don't always understand the human specifics, but they recognise sadness. They notice routines. And most of all, they stay
24 July 2025, 18:00 PM

Ink, jasmine, and the ghost of Ma: Unlearning my father

When it comes to our fathers, especially the ones who try to be good men, a rampant affliction known as patriarchy has left us with no language to imagine them outside of what they were to others. Strip away the roles, and what’s left?
15 June 2025, 08:01 AM

Ammu reads

Throughout my school years, Ammu would assign a different writer for me to read during each vacation
11 May 2025, 13:00 PM

The first Mockingjay

How Haymitch Abernathy and Katniss Everdeen mirror each other’s legacy
2 May 2025, 16:07 PM

Durga and the Bangali identity crisis

I am compelled to ask what being a Bangali even means today: What shapes our ethnic identity?
13 October 2024, 13:25 PM

Sertraline is killing my poetry

At some point, it started turning into hyper-productivity, because more task completion meant more serotonin. My writing, on the other hand, shifted from my internal world to the problems of the external world.
10 October 2024, 13:33 PM

Nawab Faizunnesa was here

The Dhaka-Cumilla bus tickets are Tk 250 for non-AC, Tk 350 for AC, and Tk 400 for AC VIP. Window seats must be negotiated on the spot. The journey takes three to six hours, past the old capital of Sonargaon, where the moisture in the air inspired the muslin, across the Gomati river and into Cumilla town on the Tropic of Cancer.
9 October 2024, 18:00 PM

In harmony

These are our shared dreams that inspire a sense of community–we are all in it together.
6 September 2024, 06:10 AM

The lack of fantasy at Boi Mela

With Ekushey Boi Mela now in full swing, the excitement surrounding the discovery of new releases should be hanging palpably in the air.
21 February 2024, 18:00 PM

When your fictitious version gets the happy ending

If you’re someone who tends to pay attention to details, you will find a CliffsNotes for The Bell Jar on the coffee table next to Heather Chandler’s dead body in the 1988 cult classic,
5 January 2024, 18:00 PM

Ink and memories: Revisiting the 'Anandamela' days

As a juvenile bibliophile, I used to see the copies as a delicate object greeting with utter care and affection.
7 December 2023, 13:55 PM

Reading for spirituality during Ramadan

A unique opportunity to enhance one's spirituality and reflect on one's faith
28 March 2023, 11:50 AM