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

An odyssey of love and loss

Having read an account of someone who stood by her husband and helped him through an assisted suicide out of love was extremely heart-wrenching.
2 August 2023, 14:55 PM

The bitter-sweet world of self-help books

The concept of self-improvement is by no means a new one, rather the notion is in the foundational structures of moral well-being. The centuries old Socrates commandment, “Know Thyself” is at the very crux of what self-improvement consists of.
1 August 2023, 14:55 PM

The Potenga harlots’ tale

In Koshobi, Jaladas paints the damp and dejected walls of Strandroad, Shahebpara, which is a local red-light district more than 300 years old.
29 July 2023, 14:55 PM

Remembering Mahasweta Devi: The blueprint of subaltern activism and literature

While novelists such as Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and Sanjeeb Chandra Chattopadhyay adopted an ambiguous position on caste discourse in their writing, Mahasweta Devi's fiction explicitly delineates the Dalits and adivasis as political, social, and psychological beings embroiled in multiple levels of oppression.
28 July 2023, 05:00 AM

Bad kids, worse adults

If you are looking for something different from your next read—especially if you’re interested in reading a story that offers a window into another Asian culture—then Bad Kids by Zijin Chen might be a good choice. This book was an instant bestseller when it was published in China, and has since been adapted for the small screen.
26 July 2023, 18:00 PM

Leafing through this life

This century had started 14 years ago—and unlike the previous one—the world was not drafting 19-year-olds to a great war so that they could die in the trenches.
26 July 2023, 18:00 PM

'Small World City': A new speculative literary magazine on the horizon

The creators of Small World City believe that Dhaka’s literary community deserves better recognition and representation, both domestically and globally.
26 July 2023, 14:42 PM

An afternoon with Abeer Hoque and Nupu Press: A celebration of creativity

The cozy atmosphere was set up by Bookworm Bangladesh, with the owner Amina Rahman kicking things off. Both Press and Hoque read out excerpts from their own books.
23 July 2023, 14:50 PM

‘Sisters in the mirror’: Elora Shehabuddin’s response to the West’s idea of feminism

The book is especially relevant in the context of Bangalee women’s life because usually while talking about Islam and women, the West fails to take the South Asian Bangalee women into account.
22 July 2023, 14:55 PM

Of losses and languages: reviewing Han Kang’s 'Greek Lessons'

There is a sense of inexorable catharsis, and dare I say— spirituality—when the protagonists begin their journey into one another since they alone embody the ideas and predicaments of the text. 
21 July 2023, 09:00 AM

Applauding Bangladesh’s remarkable health achievements

A review of a monumental book of great importance, titled '50 Years of Bangladesh: Advances in Health.'
20 July 2023, 03:04 AM

The thing about popular and overhyped books

“Overhyped books are the empty calories of the literary world.”
19 July 2023, 18:00 PM

Au Revoir, Milan Kundera

On July 11, 2023, the world said goodbye to Czech-born French novelist, Milan Kundera.
19 July 2023, 18:00 PM

Rabindranath’s song-lyrics in translation by Professor Fakrul Alam

Gitabitan: Selected Song-Lyrics of Rabindranath Tagore, containing over 300 Tagore song-lyrics translated into English, is now available for purchase in bookstores and on online websites.
18 July 2023, 14:42 PM

Have you met the ‘Ghost of Fire’?

Given the background of the main characters, Bhooter Agun has a diverse narrative and depicts a world of diverging cultures, traditions, customs, and practices.
18 July 2023, 12:55 PM

Exploring the transformative power of fanfiction

While the term "fanfiction" may not have existed, the practice certainly did. Fanfiction has been argued to have influenced significant literary works such as the Homeric epics, Shakespeare's plays, and even Miguel Cervantes' Don Quixote.
17 July 2023, 15:29 PM

5 travel books to get you in the mood for travelling

It must be surreal to observe the same moon from another destination of the world, from a place that is unfathomable to you, that for a long time seemed like a stranger.
14 July 2023, 08:55 AM

Where does a story end, and a lie begin?

Through its 300 pages, Kuang exposes the performative nature of anti-racism in publishing: showcasing the boxes that people of colour get put in and how difficult it is for them to be heard.
13 July 2023, 06:57 AM

From breezy musings to gusty convictions

As you go through the book, you face heavier winds. In the section titled ‘Gale’, Professor Mortuza explores the history of the establishment of our education system, the contentious nature of the semester system at our universities, the issue of campus ragging, corruption within our educational institutions, and various other compelling topics. In this section, he faces the topics head on.
13 July 2023, 06:46 AM

Home is where my books are

How do you pack 25 years of your life in two suitcases?
13 July 2023, 06:25 AM