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 / Kobitabela: a soulful afternoon
9 September 2026
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
Pages for freedom: Book recommendations for Victory Day
For educators: My go-to text on 1971 is Jahanara Imam’s Ekattorer Dinguli. It’s a deeply personal and powerful memoir that I believe every student should engage with to truly feel the emotional and human cost of the war. The way she documents her experiences, especially the loss of her son, is heart-wrenching and offers a perspective that transcends history—it becomes deeply relatable and unforgettable.
13 December 2024
A tale of survival, dominance, and self-discovery in colonial Bengal
Obayed Haq’s Bangla novel, Arkathi, is almost a bildungsroman tale filled with adventure and self-reflection. In true bildungsroman fashion, where the protagonist progresses into adulthood with room for growth and change, a bulk of Haq’s novel talks about the spiritual journey that an orphan, Naren, takes through a forest in order to mature, and comes out on the other side to realise a community’s deep, hidden truth.
12 December 2024
Confronting cultural silence on IPV in Bangladeshi communities
Proverbs, short and profound, often sum up wisdom passed down through generations. Bangla, one of the world’s most spoken languages, is rich with such gems. One such saying in the language—”manush ki bolbe?”—is central to Intimacies of Violence, a debut book by Dr Nadine Shaanta Murshid, an associate professor at the University at Buffalo.
12 December 2024
Remnants of a burning home
I fell asleep to the chatters of cicadas on a quiet summer night
6 December 2024
On invisibilised violence
In classic Bengali fiction, the kitchen is a central site for conflict and community bonding.
6 December 2024
How to make incendiary literature
Zines are a new name for an old thing. They are the revolutionary pamphlets of the 1930s, and the underground student manifestos of the ‘50-’60s. They are a distant relative of the tattered choti mags. There are many other examples from around the world of self-published, self-distributed, and often dangerous reading material.
4 December 2024
I love you; it’s ruining my life
Someone in a chat group somewhere called Sally Rooney the ‘Taylor Swift’ of the literary world, and now I cannot unsee it.
4 December 2024
Taiwan romance novelist Chiung Yao dies at 86
Chiung Yao was a prolific writer, publishing over 60 books in a career spanning more than five decades.
4 December 2024
Albert’s dream
A long stretch of time / passed in prison
29 November 2024
The vanishing Ramanujan
The night after the story got published, Jamal stormed to my home at around 11 PM, drenched in the rain. That was the first and only time Jamal raised his voice against me
29 November 2024
Storytelling, struggles, and reimagining identity
Patriarchy would have you believe that women are inherently complicated—creatures who must be defined, boxed in, or reduced to stereotypes.
27 November 2024
Of homes and the worlds: Women, violence, and the domestic space
November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, marks the beginning of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence which goes until December 10, Human Rights Day.
27 November 2024
Something smells fishy
The large green pond of Dhanmondi Lake was probably the first source of natural water that I had witnessed. It sheltered a huge number of people who have lived,
22 November 2024
Of longings, of belongings
Women and the earth have to tolerate a lot.
–Kaajal (1965)
22 November 2024
At the birth of death
One sits silently. Her eyes blink sometimes. Sometimes her lips tremble a little, or they don’t tremble at all.
22 November 2024
7 Sisters in the library: Interpersonal conversations and catharsis found
The event switched gears soon enough, and the final hour saw Shala Gallery turned into a rave.
21 November 2024
Regional cooperation and the challenges Bangladesh faces
Bangladesh is currently going through turbulent times as it tries to find its way out from dictatorial political rule towards an uncertain future. During the past decade, Bangladesh did achieve significant economic progress, but it came with increased economic inequality, unparalleled corruption, and loss of personal freedom.
20 November 2024
An intellectual debt worth remembering
The history of Bangladesh’s conception is incomplete without recognising the multitudes of sacrifices and labour that academics and intellectuals had poured into their aspirations for Bangladesh, often at the cost of their own safety and livelihood.
20 November 2024
5 Postcolonial novels: Voices from the Bengal Province
Here is a short list of her chants in fiction, creating a narrative of Bangali postcolonial resistance
17 November 2024
My heart is a gilded oligarch
My heart is an oligarch:
A staunch, pot-bellied, knuckle-cracking middle-aged man lounging carelessly, lazily in his sitting room with his limbs spread out on a settee
15 November 2024
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