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

John Green slams Tumblr user accusing him of sexual abuse

The move probably came as a form of counterstroke against Twitter’s ridiculous measure of allowing people to have verified accounts with $8. “Real tired of this free speech platform requiring me to be John Green. I AM A SOCK COMPANY,” Green tweeted.
13 December 2022, 12:24 PM

Hawa Manzil

I smoked and we stared. We stared and I smoked. One cigarette after another. To this day I’m not certain how the next two hours had passed, but I will never forget the blank look in its eyes and something that resembled a sneer that I never saw on Liton Mia’s face before.
11 December 2022, 16:45 PM

Penguin Random House CEO to quit after merger blocked

Thomas Rabe, chief executive of Penguin's German owner Bertelsmann, expressed full confidence in Malaviya, who he said had a chance of permanently becoming CEO.
11 December 2022, 11:55 AM

Journalists need regular salaries, institutional support, says Nadeem Qadir at book launch

Qadir’s book includes insight on the origins and evolution of journalism in Bangladesh, firsthand experiences of journalists who have struggled and resigned from large media houses, research and case studies, and proposed solutions.  
11 December 2022, 06:53 AM

Un-Red

She reminds me of Desdemona,/ A character, a wife, a tramp, but never human! So maybe she was a witch, / Maybe sirens were witches too,
9 December 2022, 18:00 PM

from it, poetry arrives

bits and pieces of her day/ get stuck in her hair/ she carries grief quietly
9 December 2022, 18:00 PM

Emily Dickinson: A prodigy prosodist of Modern literature

Dickinson shows that mellifluousness of language is what gives a heightened attribute to the essence of a poesy.
9 December 2022, 18:00 PM

On free speech and Milton’s 'Areopagitica'

Milton shows how the erroneous use of censorship laws have hindered progress even in the quest for scientific truth.
9 December 2022, 14:01 PM

Annie Ernaux delivers her Nobel Prize lecture

What came to me spontaneously was the clamour of a language which conveyed anger and derision, even crudeness; a language of excess, insurgent, often used by the humiliated and the offended as their only response to the memory of others’ contempt, of shame, and shame at feeling shame.
8 December 2022, 11:58 AM

The Bhawal story through women’s voices in Aruna Chakravarti’s ‘The Mendicant Prince’

The story of the ailing Bhawal prince, Ramendranarayan Roy, the Mejo Kumar, who while taken to Darjeeling to recuperate, died and was cremated there, under mysterious circumstances, and who then returned years later as a wandering ascetic with partial amnesia!
8 December 2022, 04:00 AM

Toward Ladyland: On the life and work of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain

Her 1903 piece “Alonkar na badge of slavery” marked the start of Rokeya’s explicitly feminist writing.
8 December 2022, 00:00 AM

No guests including Shaon will attend Humayun Ahmed conference in New York

Showtime Music, the organiser company,  said that it has not yet been determined who will be the new guests.
7 December 2022, 11:40 AM

5 books to read about Brazilian football

Whether you’re an Argentina fan or have a newly found enthusiasm for the Japanese team, you cannot deny the exceptional trajectory of the Brazilian footballers, each more celebrated than the other. Here are five books about Brazilian football to shed new light on the sport’s background.
5 December 2022, 15:00 PM

Last night reminded me of cricket's power to wield stories

As I mentally prepared to leave the stadium last night, I saw Miraz continue to play with a deftness and an attitude that I wish could be formalised and replicated by all eleven team members.
5 December 2022, 04:07 AM

Bookworm Bangladesh to reopen in Shahabuddin Park, Gulshan 2

The new branch is expected to open in mid-January, store owner Amina Rahman told The Daily Star. 
4 December 2022, 15:07 PM

Slam Poetry Nights 4 goes to Gulshan Paara Uthshab

SHOUT and Daily Star Books jointly organise the Slam Poetry Nights once every month to offer a platform for conversations on art, personal freedom, and the issues urgent to the country’s people, all through the lens of poetry. 
4 December 2022, 12:00 PM

Unpacking the craft of creative writing

If you are reaching out to an agent, go and find out exactly what sort of work that agent publishes. Also, think in terms of what would differentiate your work with the work of 39 other authors.
3 December 2022, 12:05 PM

Guba Books organises Stories in the Park!

The event saw the launching of children's books in both English and Bangla, namely Ami Bokul, Sun Moon Secret and Where are the Chonchols? 
3 December 2022, 08:25 AM

Finding myself in Orhan Pamuk books

It is also etched in the corners of multiple pages of the notebook I am writing this draft in. It is on my passport, also on my pajamas. It is the word the world knows me by—my name. Specifically, my last name, Nuri.
2 December 2022, 08:55 AM

SHOUTxDS Books presents 'Slam Poetry Nights' — Episode 3

The December session arrives on Friday, December 2, at the Gulshan Paara Utshab at 3:00-3:45 PM.
1 December 2022, 14:00 PM