Beyond stereotypes: Rupert Grey’s ‘Homage to Bangladesh’

Rupert Grey, a descendant of Charles Grey and best known professionally as a leading libel and copyright lawyer stood against this statement. “If Bangladesh is a basket case,” Grey tells The Daily Star, “then it is so in the best possible way.” For him, the term collapses under the sheer vitality of the country. A single square metre of a Bangladeshi street, he argues, holds more energy than entire neighbourhoods in London. Where life in England often unfolds in rigid routines, Bangladesh thrives in spontaneity—where a hanging lighter at a tea stall can become a moment of shared choreography.
25 January 2026, 12:24 PM Books & Literature
FLASH FICTION / The rickshaw artist
24 January 2026, 01:52 AM Books & Literature
FLASH FICTION / Pirouette of a phoenix
24 January 2026, 01:48 AM Books & Literature
POETRY / Memories
24 January 2026, 01:36 AM Books & Literature

EDITORIAL / Why read?
22 January 2026, 00:00 AM Books & Literature
THE SHELF / 7 new books to look out for in 2026
22 January 2026, 00:00 AM Books & Literature

INTERVIEW / Reclaiming the unwritten: Kanika Gupta on colonialism, embodiment, and the art of remembering

Gupta shares her insights on reclaiming forgotten histories, reimagining myths, and connecting ancient narratives to contemporary ecological and social concerns.
22 November 2025, 11:51 AM Books & Literature
EVENT REPORT / An eco-critical look at Sultan: Reading the manuscript of ‘Sultan Er Krishi Jiggasha’
With the aid of Duniyadari Archive, Pavel Partha’s soon-to-be-published book Sultan Er Krishi Jiggasha is a new addition, which looks at Sultan’s work from an eco-critical perspective.
8 November 2025, 11:43 AM Books & Literature
NEWS REPORT / “Curious love letter”: Wole Soyinka responds after US cancels visa
He responded to the situation with grace, mentioning “I like people who have a sense of humour".
30 October 2025, 10:45 AM Books & Literature

ON THE WINGS OF POETRY: Flight of the Angsana Oriole

Last week it flew in, landing on my doorstep, and flapped open its wings released from its bubble wrapped cage. As the delivery man from Amazon Italy drove away, I regarded the poetry book in my hand.
8 November 2023, 18:00 PM

An evening of spooks and screams

Each submission, whether poem or prose, was limited to 250 words, and the first team to complete all the prompts would be crowned the winning house.
8 November 2023, 15:55 PM

‘Island Life’: A collaborative children’s book

Through visualising the beautiful island nation of the Maldives and the unique environmental features of Bangladesh, the book hopes to foster an appreciation for our shared natural heritage and raise climate awareness.
6 November 2023, 08:40 AM

Being a third culture kid

As the title suggests, I am a third culture kid, a TCK, or a TCI (I for individual), the phrase literally translates to “people who were raised in a culture other than their parents’ or the culture of their country of nationality, and also those who live in a different environment during a significant part of their child development years”.
1 November 2023, 18:00 PM

‘History and Heritage’: Reading Bengal in a series

Even at this moment when Google is under threat of being taken over by Artificial Intelligence and you may search for anything online,
1 November 2023, 18:00 PM

Love, lies and loneliness

The very first time I came across a description of this book, previously published under the title The Nigerwife (Atria Books, 2023),
1 November 2023, 18:00 PM

Remembering Dr. Saleemul Huq, the climate stalwart

Dr. Huq steered a generation of climate researchers and activists, having inspired most of the leading climate activists and actors active currently
1 November 2023, 14:00 PM

Mahfuz Anam - The Editor: 30 years and counting

Mahfuz Anam assumed the office of Editor of The Daily Star on November 1, 1993. Today he completed 30 years of unparalleled editorship.
1 November 2023, 11:58 AM

4 witchy romance novels to read this Halloween

The fascination with October’s magic and mystery hasn’t subdued over the centuries. And what can be more magical than falling in love in October?
31 October 2023, 13:55 PM

Little bits of love that remain

Your tea in the kettle, piping hot water/ No sugar, so that you can really taste the tea on your tongue
30 October 2023, 13:55 PM

Where to Start with Nobel Laureate, Jon Fosse

On 5th October, 2023 the acclaimed Norwegian playwright and poet, Jon Olav Fosse, won the Nobel Prize in Literature “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.”
28 October 2023, 13:40 PM

This time, just the bare bones

Horror master Edgar Allan Poe believed a really good scary story should be read in one sitting.
25 October 2023, 18:00 PM

The unclassifiable “monsters” of Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio’

Guillermo Del Toro’s stop-motion animation, Pinocchio (2022) is loosely based on Carlo Collodi’s novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883).
25 October 2023, 18:00 PM

In search of American freedoms

Increasingly over the years, American literary fiction has centered upon rage—a rage brought on by family, one’s own identity or, through the very cruelty of economic catastrophe.
18 October 2023, 18:00 PM

Memoirs of our unsung heroes

Massacre, murder, torture, violence, bayonet, bloodshed, grenade, displacement, death—these words bring to mind a war scenario.
18 October 2023, 18:00 PM

The Runaway Boy: A promise not delivered

The Runway Boy (Eka, 2020), written by Manoranjan Byapari and translated from Bangla by V Ramaswamy, delivers an accurate portrayal of postcolonial Bengal,
18 October 2023, 18:00 PM

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.
17 October 2023, 13:55 PM

Books with playlists: A new trend among contemporary authors?

A question that comes to mind is why does a book even need a playlist? There are two solid answers.
15 October 2023, 15:55 PM

Dhaka Divisional Book Fair ended amidst the need for more visibility

Most of the students from Dhaka University did not know about the fair and simply happened to pass by.
15 October 2023, 13:55 PM

An underwhelming kidnapping

Perhaps the book's biggest fault is that it ends up being (unintentionally or not) a response to Nabokov’s Lolita.
13 October 2023, 15:55 PM