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
Dark, blue night
Like wild leopard's skin, I spread out my hair
The dark night uncurls with his roaring fleet;
I pounce on his chest, bare foot, like Kali–
23 June 2023
On rainy days and reading
The fact of the matter was this: the poem had been written, the call had been answered, and as lofty as it sounds—at that moment there I was, as Frank O'Hara put aptly—"the center of all beauty! / writing these poems!/ Imagine!".
23 June 2023
How Pakistan viewed ‘71: Academics and publishers discuss
To understand the attitude of the adversaries of the Liberation War, I went to collect the data for this book and found that Pakistanis are defending themselves.
22 June 2023
Into the intersection of identity & violence
It is worth considering that, according to historian Yuval Noah Harari, we may not be able to fully evade violence, as our evolutionary past has instilled certain inclinations within us that could be linked to violence.
22 June 2023
'Independence': A painfully poignant Partition story
Divakaruni has a message to send with this novel. To her, independence entails not just liberation or freedom from subjugation, it also means doing the right thing for oneself and for the people around us.
22 June 2023
Riverdale can be anytime, anywhere
Sweet, colourful, and funny, Archie comics were one of the only graphic narratives available for people who weren’t interested in superheroes and really gritty, edgy comics like Batman.
22 June 2023
I wanted to become a writer. Did I need to study creative writing?
I was losing myself gradually, and that is when I decided to seek out freelance writing.
21 June 2023
Scrounging revelations out of music
I don't remember at what point in life I learned to recognize the fallacy behind the not-like-other-girls phenomenon and discarded it for an all-encompassing love for female friendship and solidarity, in acceptance of femininity in all its forms. But I do know that Taylor Swift played a significant role in it.
20 June 2023
‘Good books will always find good readers’: Dipankar Das
The crux of the issue is whether or not good books are reaching the intended readers.
20 June 2023
Cormac McCarthy: A great American novelist
For a nation that cannot boast of a Cervantes or Rabindranath, there will always be a need to find an All-American, a unifier who assures them of their place in the hallowed halls of literature. Cormac McCarthy, more than any other writer of his generation, was equipped to shoulder that title.
19 June 2023
Baba
try my best to paint the place blue
Pouring all the sorrow after you
With no colour left in my palette,
As though the canvas breathes its last
18 June 2023
A day of festivities to celebrate 19 years of Baatighar
Baatighar has organised an evening of music and discussion at its Dhaka outlet on June 18, 2023, from 6 PM onwards.
18 June 2023
Begum Rokeya and Begum Sufia An enduring “mother-daughter” bond
Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) and Begum Sufia Kamal (1911-1999), two icons in Bangla literature and culture, were not kins but kindred spirits.
16 June 2023
Heathen
Spirit breaks at home along with love mingled with innocence.
16 June 2023
Will-o’-the-Wisp
The sky to the west and overhead is mired in darkness; but to the east, light is gleaming out like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.
16 June 2023
All she ever wanted
Elen would tell you how her hatred for her sister was so intense that she didn't know who she was without it.
16 June 2023
Across the Spider-Verse: Faithfulness to the comics
Bendis intentionally put a stark difference between Peter and Miles, so that comic book fans would not feel that their favourite web-swinger was being replaced by just another goody-two-shoes, just with a racial make-up switch.
16 June 2023
In Extreme Need of Guidance
On summer days when the sunlight falls through the trees it scatters into a play of light and shadows on the ground. My memories of Fareed are like that.
15 June 2023
Can we process trauma through writing?
Iffat Nawaz, together with The Daily Star’s Books & Literary Editor, Sarah Anjum Bari, will discuss the act and impact of processing traumatic memories through writing.
15 June 2023
Lovers, liars and lurkers in the library
Hannah's protagonist Freddie is attempting to make progress on her novel by working at the Boston Public Library, when she—along with three of the people she is sharing a table with—are transfixed by the sound of a woman screaming somewhere in the Library.
14 June 2023
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