In the post-9/11 world, no country’s name has been evoked more than Turkey’s (or its newly rebranded name of Türkiye) in public discussions by foreign policy pundits and politicians alike, to demonstrate the harmonious symbiosis of the East and West, Islam and secularism, and tradition and modernity.

Anwarul Quadir (1887-1948) was a key literary figure whose work significantly influenced the intellectual movement of Bengali Muslims in late colonial Bengal.

In the sixties of the last century, I earned my primary degree with majors in Philosophy and Indian Studies and became a secondary school teacher.

A packed calendar across formats awaits Gambhir and the Indian team.

Players and staff from both Colombia and Uruguay were also involved in a confrontation on the field after the final whistle.

When a book mentions one of my favourite authors, W. Somerset Maugham, and the short description suggests betrayal, intrigue, secret affairs, political uprisings, failed marriages, and a whodunnit, there’s little I can do but take it.

Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! is unruly and endearing. Akbar’s years as a poet has given his debut novel an honesty that shines through the book’s arduous structure. And for all of Martyr!’s exhilarating tone and emotional trek, the difficulties of writing a novel on addiction, martyrdom, death, and meaning is evident when one reads it.

Cartography in India might have had its roots in this expansionist ambition but went on to achieve much more than this. Rennell’s Map of Hindostan, published by an act of Parliament in 1782, inaugurated the cartographic identity of modern India for the first time on the world stage.

Recently, there has been significant press coverage in Bangladesh and India regarding the heinous murder of Bangladeshi Member of Parliament Anwarul Azim in India. The majority of the accused individuals are of Bangladeshi origin and have been apprehended in Bangladesh. However, the primary culprit, who happens to be a Bangladeshi American, escaped to the United States. Therefore, three countries are now involved with this case, prompting a discussion on jurisdiction over crimes in international context.

Genocide denial is deeply rooted in socio-political, and historical complexities and manifests in many forms across instances like the Armenian, Holocaust, Roman, Rwandan, Bangladesh, and Rohingya genocides, to name a few.  The genocide unfolding in Gaza is live streamed before the world and yet its continuance is being vehemently denied by Israel and its allies.

In today’s globalised world order, cross-border transactions and consequent disputes have been a common phenomenon.

“My reader, I dip into the water just for you.” Bibhas Roy Chowdhury

“An exceptional novel that makes gender disappear to build unconventional love and friendship”

The issue of defaulting on loans continues to be the biggest trouble for the banking industry. At the end of March 2024, total disbursed loans stood at BDT 16,40,000 crore, of which BDT 1,82,000 crore were in default, the highest in the history of Bangladesh. Currently, 11.11 percent of disbursed loans have turned into NPLs.

Bangladesh’s Constitution has seen its “basic structures” altered by several amendments. Several of those amendments altered the Constitution so drastically that we tend to call them “constitutional dismemberments”– a term borrowed from Professor Richard Albert of the University of Texas at Austin. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh declared some, such as the Fifth and Seventh, constitutional amendments, unconstitutional. Some, such as the Fifteenth, were never formally challenged.

It’s hard not to recall our many conversations about literature as I try to summarise Shah Tazrian Ashrafi’s debut collection of short stories. They were always short discussions, opening and closing off in spurts, as happens over text. Exclamations over a new essay collection by Zadie Smith, or a new novel by Isabel Allende.

Begum’s Blunder is a clever adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan. The play transports the Victorian setting to the imaginary Behrampur, the heyday of the Nawabs in India. With Naila Azad Nupur’s direction, and Sadaf Saaz working her behind-the-scenes magic as the producer, the production by Kaleidoscope projects lights on the prism of Wilde’s 1892 play to find their contemporary refractions and reflections in colonial India.

There are few novelists as cruel as Hanya Yanagihara—and in A Little Life (Doubleday, 2015), her pen draws blood. Nine years on, the controversy of the 800-page character study of an irreparably broken protagonist is still ablaze with accusations that it sadistically exploits trauma for profit.

This week, Kyla Zhao, the author of Valley Verified (Penguin Random House, 2024), graced us with an exclusive interview to give us insights into the changing trends in Asian American literature.

The first half of this year has treated us with some truly amazing book-to-screen adaptations like Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, A Gentleman in Moscow, and Ripley. The second half is also unlikely to disappoint. Here are some book-to-screen adaptations to pack the rest of your year with.