News Report / National Book Awards 2026 announces 25 finalists across five categories
11 October 2026
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News
The National Book Foundation has announced the 25 finalists for the 2026 National Book Awards, with five shortlisted works in each of the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature and Young People’s Literature. The finalists were selected from 1,912 submissions, following the announcement of the longlists in September.
Canadian writer Anne Carson wins 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature
8 October 2026
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News
Interview / Booker-longlisted Kenan Orhan on exile, memory and the art of fiction
8 October 2026
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News
Interview / Silence, faith, and the unseen: Jon Fosse in conversation
8 October 2026
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Books & Literature
Book Review: Fiction / Chasing myths before midnight
8 October 2026
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Books & Literature
News Report / Best-selling British author Jeffrey Archer dies aged 86
7 October 2026
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News
Fiction / The wardrobe
3 October 2026
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Fiction
Poetry / From fawn to shore
3 October 2026
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Poetry
Poetry / Waterhen
3 October 2026
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Poetry
Literary Curtains / Patriarchy inversed: Reimagining Rokeya’s Ladyland in 2026
“Ladyland is not perfect,” remarks Sultana, one of the protagonists in the much awaited play, “Project Ladyland 2026”. Produced by HerStory Foundation in collaboration with the British Council and Women of the World Foundation, the play was greeted by a full house this weekend. Staged at the Bangladesh Mohila Samiti theatre, the performance made a splash on Friday, August 14.
Event Report / “We do not live outside history”: Dr. Azfar Hussain on humanism, fascism, and the July Uprising
26 July 2026
“It is one of those questions that politely pretends to be a title, but secretly aspires to be a life’s work,” began Dr. Azfar Hussain on an overcast evening on the July 23, 2026, addressing a packed forum hall at the University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh (ULAB), alluding to the title of his public lecture: What Does It Mean to Be Human in the Age of 'Posthumanism' and Global Fascism?
Event Report / “Our Story”: Where parents and children made memories by hand
15 July 2026
A unique and heartwarming workshop, designed to celebrate the beautiful journey of parenthood through creative expression and quality time
The shelf / 7 Asian healing fiction recommendations for rainy days
18 June 2026
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The Shelf
You know when the sky trades its brightness for a low, silver hue, and you wrap your fingers tightly around your tea, seeking that small, steady pulse of warmth. This is the essence of healing fiction. Often rooted in the Japanese concept of iyashikei, these stories focus on the quiet spirit through small, everyday moments. You may have already heard of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop or We’ll Prescribe You a Cat. While those popular favourites have opened a door for many, there are a few other tales worth the read.
Reflections / In the age of AI allegations
13 June 2026
Fiction / Body Selim
18 April 2026
Reading Begum Rokeya, again and always
Begum Rokeya was once described as a “Spider Mother” (makar-mata or makarsha janani) in her biographical account but there is nothing sinister in this metaphor. The image of the spider here symbolises the quiet, patient, and selfless labour of an educator, caring for children who were not her own. Shamsunnahar Mahmud, her close co-worker, wrote: “Day after day in this way, with the blood of her own breast, Spider Mother began to revive hundreds of baby spiders into new life.”
23 April 2025
A priceless fictional heirloom
There are any number of ways one can approach Rahat Ara Begum’s collection of short stories, 'Lost Tales from a Bygone Era: An Anthology of Translation of Urdu Stories', assembled, contextualised, and published in this book by her loving grandchildren and their siblings
23 April 2025
Book recommendations for different personality types
This year’s World Book Day theme, “Read Your Way,” invites readers to embrace their own paths, rhythms, and preferences regarding books
23 April 2025
A tribute to the written word
'A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies'
23 April 2025
We didn’t mean to stop reading
There was a time, maybe not that long ago, when the only thing you needed for a perfect evening was a book
23 April 2025
The burden of words
It was not often that I received odd parcels. True, my job at the paper did occasionally warrant a few peculiar hate-mail or rebuttals, but this was nothing of that sort
18 April 2025
Mould
A quiet, seniority in its touch, / A tenderness that feels like it's meant to last
18 April 2025
Escape
You thought you had escaped, didn't you? / Outran everything that weighed you down
18 April 2025
A pantheon of parables
‘Fit for the Gods: Greek Mythology Reimagined’ (Vintage, 2023), edited by Jenn Northington and S. Zainab Williams, is a collection of classic myths with a twist
16 April 2025
Aparna Sanyal and the burden of representation in South Asian literature
Aparna Upadhyaya Sanyal’s 'Instruments of Torture' is a powerful literary collection that delves into the psychological and societal torments individuals endure, particularly focusing on themes of beauty standards and the representation of women. Each story in the collection is named after a medieval torture device, serving as a metaphor for the emotional and societal pressures faced by the characters.
16 April 2025
Bangladeshi writer Faria Basher shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2025
“An Eye and a Leg” has been described as "a darkly humorous and surreal take on the trope of the ‘expiring’ South Asian woman"
15 April 2025
Delila’s quest (20 October 2014)
Li’l Del is walking all alone
Li’l Del wants to find her way home.
11 April 2025
Home for rent
Mrs X's parents were not interested in spending money on their daughter's room because they would have to give her new furniture when she got married
11 April 2025
‘Sunrise on the Reaping’: Fan service and repetitive themes weigh down ‘Hunger Games’ prequel
Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series has captivated pop culture with its bold take on tyranny, sacrifice, and resistance, spanning Katniss Everdeen’s blazing defiance in The Hunger Games (2008) to her final stand in Mockingjay (2010) against Coriolanus Snow’s cold cruelty.
9 April 2025
Stitching fragments of a city lost in time
In the contested notion of creating a ‘nation,’ few ideas provoke as much ire among the everyday citizens of a bordered entity as the concept of a space—one that carries with it the weight of instilling an identity.
9 April 2025
Memory speaks
Sometimes at early dawn / You overpower my eyelids / And won’t let me wake up
7 April 2025
Bluebird’s anthology
Who do I tell, sir? The walls do not listen,
The roads do not answer back
4 April 2025
The morgues are full
In Gaza, the names of the martyrs slip through silence, lost to a world too distracted to listen
4 April 2025
Making headlines
We'll put up feigned politicians / And their fake promises instead
4 April 2025
6 literary characters we wish could join our Eid table
What if our Eid table had a few extra chairs reserved not for guests from our world but from that of the books we’ve loved throughout our life?
4 April 2025
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