Creative nonfiction / Growing up with a new nation: The Dhaka we once knew

This award is meant to be shared with a Writer of Courage, which PEN describes as a ‘writer who is active in defence of freedom of expression, often at great risk to their own safety and liberty’

In Alex Christofi’s newly published fascinating book—Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean—we get a deep close-range look at one of world civilisation’s interesting hotspots that has long swayed between the cross-currents of the rise and fall of the great monotheisms.

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.

I skip talking to myself for hours / The “me time”, before going to bed

If you travel on a bus, always take the window seat.

Is it true that when we migrate, we lose a few people from our past?

Raindrops whisper on the tin roof’s drum,

After the previous tenant vacated the house, Khan E Alam decided not to accommodate any younger residents.

Whether you’re a fan of classic literature, contemporary fiction, or just simply enjoy immersive audios, these audiobooks and adaptations offer a fantastic way to enjoy some of the best stories ever written

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.

Short books you can start and finish in a day

On my birthday, Bitan genially offers 

Selina Hossain is a celebrated novelist in the realm of Bangla literature.

Again, I wasn’t a poet, but words and sentences jumbled up seeing that small face, light make-up enhancing her beauty. A loose strand of hair cascaded down her cheek, framing her face.

It was not a question one would ask as he did/ With his round glasses at the end of his nose

The literary world was shaken on August 12, 2022, when the news of Salman Rushdie being stabbed on stage in upstate New York started to pour in. Ironically, he was all set to talk about his involvement in a project to create a refuge in the USA for those writers who are not safe in their country.

Bengali literature has had a rich history of prose, beginning more or less in the early 19th century under the colonial Raj.