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

How BookTok motivated me to read again

It has made literary criticism—often regarded highbrow or excessively academic—feel accessible.
3 August 2022, 13:00 PM

Why I’m excited about ‘House of the Dragon’

Fire & Blood is the historical retelling of the reign of the Targaryens as told by the fictional Archmaster Gyldayn, and it is a compressed version of all the things that make A Song of Ice and Fire so fun.
31 July 2022, 13:39 PM

Bookworm hosts reading session of "Aasma-i-Noor: The Cursed Jewel" by Sudipta Sen Gupta

The author shared about her life being an associate professor, teaching Management, raising two girls, and her love for writing over a cup of coffee and snacks. 
30 July 2022, 14:08 PM

Nine times that books told us why overpopulation is scary

Despite the decelerating growth rate and with the country's population currently standing at 16.51 crore as opposed to just 14 crore in 2011—merely 10 years ago—overcrowding is still a massive cause of headache for most of us.
30 July 2022, 09:59 AM

Eight-year-old Rituraj writes Rokomari bestselling book

Proceeds from the book’s sales will be donated to charity foundations that work with underprivileged children. 
30 July 2022, 06:26 AM

Home-grown solutions for a global crisis: 'Rohingya Camp Narratives' launches at IUB

“Here one will find on state policy analysis and societal dynamics–exploring grey areas and bringing multidimensional analysis to the refugee crisis”, said Professor Dr Meghna Guhathakurta.
29 July 2022, 13:07 PM

Humayun Ahmed and the language of Bangladeshi novels

His written language came close to spoken language due to the primitive and original style of Bengali syntax—simple sentence structures.
29 July 2022, 06:00 AM

‘Persuasion’, ‘Bridgerton’, ‘Emma.’ What’s missing from these quirky period dramas?

Studios seem to think female characters need to be glossed with a “zany” and “feisty” persona in order to be relevant. 
27 July 2022, 18:00 PM

Ali Riaz’s ‘More than Meets the Eye’ and a writer’s responsibility

Writers and intellectuals are obligated to stir moral indignation at gross injustices and the plight of the masses.
27 July 2022, 18:00 PM

Mundanities, magic realism, Bangladesh—Shahidul Zahir’s novellas

The personal space is the same as the political sphere, the individual on the same strand as the collective. 
27 July 2022, 18:00 PM

Unconventional narrators dominate the 2022 Booker Prize longlist

Glory is narrated by a vivid chorus of animal voices, while Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies is partly told by the malevolent cancer travelling through the body of protagonist Lia.
27 July 2022, 12:10 PM

July’s ULAB Literary Salon discusses Bangladeshi short story anthologies

An engaging discussion on translations unfolded at the event.
26 July 2022, 07:48 AM

Ali Riaz, UPL discuss 'More Than Meets The Eye: Essays on Bangladeshi Politics'

Ali Riaz has tried to determine the current political trends as well as trends that may emerge in the future with his keen insight.
24 July 2022, 11:15 AM

How it feels when you can’t finish reading a book

As I have grown older, my mind is calmer but it’s a void now, empty of any voice.
24 July 2022, 07:48 AM

ULAB Literary Salon to discuss Bangladeshi short story anthologies on July 23

After hosting the Bangladesh launch of the novel Cyber Mage, the critically acclaimed novel by science fiction writer Saad Z Hossain, the third ULAB Literary Salon will acknowledge Bangladesh’s passion for short stories by showcasing three remarkable recent collections:
20 July 2022, 18:00 PM

‘The Great Bengali Poetry Underground’: More poets than crows

If this collection proves anything, then it’s that Bangalees will take to poetry like flies take to freshly cut mangoes on a hot summer day.
20 July 2022, 18:00 PM

Tash Aw's 'We, the Survivors' explores the human cost of progress

More than 4,000 wealthy Bangladeshis have invested in Malaysia’s expensive 10-year-residency visa programme. We, the Survivors deserves to be widely read in Bangladesh.
20 July 2022, 18:00 PM

Getting a grip on the Bangladesh development narrative

The celebration of 50 years of Bangladesh’s independence has been a welcome opportunity to revisit and put on the spotlight Bangladesh’s developmental experience over the past five decades,
20 July 2022, 18:00 PM

What to read on a rainy day

We’ll be honest—instead of all the work we had piled up today, be it taking or attending classes, editing articles, or reporting news, all we at The Daily Star wanted to do was curl up with a good book, wrap ourselves with blankets and sink into some good old, comforting storytelling.
20 July 2022, 05:41 AM

Books to read against a beautiful sunset

Here are some books that, for their various tropes and themes, go hand in hand and allow us to relish these July evenings.
17 July 2022, 12:17 PM