BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / Lost in translation, looking for home
25 September 2026
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Books & Literature
I think what stayed with me most about R. F. Kuang’s Taipei Story was not its politics, its questions about diaspora, or even its fascination with a new language.
INTERVIEW / In conversation with Lucky Karim: The story behind ‘Born Lucky’
25 September 2026
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Books & Literature
Inside Asia’s Hidden Heritage Treasures: ANN releases new e-book on continent’s shared culture
24 September 2026
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Books & Literature
News Report / NSU Writing Center offers certificate course for professionals
21 September 2026
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News
Fiction / The winter ballot
19 September 2026
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Fiction
Poetry / Four poems on healing
19 September 2026
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Poetry
Poetry / Sacred sorrows
19 September 2026
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Poetry
Essay / How Tumblr folk tales are rewriting digital dread into quiet sanctuaries
17 September 2026
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Essay
Essay / The menstruating body and the making of ‘womanhood’ in literature
17 September 2026
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Essay
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 / Special Discussion Marks Abul Hasnat’s Birth Anniversary: ‘Nabiner Shahittya: Shwapna O Shwapnabhongo’
19 July 2026
A special literary discussion titled ‘Nabiner Shahittya: Shwapna O Shwapnabhongo’ was held on Friday, July 17, 2026, at 5:00 P.M. on the third floor of Bengal Shilpalay in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. This discussion was organised to commemorate the birth anniversary of distinguished poet, essayist, and literary editor Abul Hasnat. The event brought together prominent writers and editors to discuss the literary pursuits of emerging authors and the pivotal role editors play in nurturing new literary voices.
News Report / Jamir Nazir wins 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize following AI review
3 July 2026
Set in rural Trinidad, “The Serpent in the Grove” explores themes of betrayal, survival and the resilience of a woman's will.
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
Why ‘Hawa’ reminded me of Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’
The song “Shada Shada Kala Kala” seems almost like a visual rendition of “the merry minstrelsy” that breaks out in front of the bride as red as a rose.
2 September 2022
No country for honest men in Shahidul Zahir’s “Woodcutter and Crows”
Zahir uses crows as a symbol of magic realism, as found in local folklore, where animals serve as omens of luck both good and bad. The crows seem to bring bad luck to the couple, and wherever they go, the birds follow.
1 September 2022
Bleak realities in the shadow of China’s rise
In May 2022, Joanna Chiu won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for her debut nonfiction book, China Unbound: A New World Disorder (Hurst, November 2021).
31 August 2022
No country for honest men in Shahidul Zahir’s “Woodcutter and Crows”
Prolific writer, novelist, and pioneer of postmodern fiction in Bangla literature, Shahidul Zahir, is known for the unique practice of magic realism in his works.
31 August 2022
The dangerous game of Marlon James—Can genre fiction be great literature?
James seems to be saying to the establishment, to the same generous folks who once gave him the Booker and propelled him to the stratosphere: Go ahead and say this is not literature, I dare you.
31 August 2022
When You Come Like a Long-Lost Light
A love poem
31 August 2022
Writer becomes bestseller after his own employer buys copies worth 9 crore
Chulbul, who has written 29 books of poetry in his career spanning 9 months, characterises his style as introspective, post-modernist neo-absurdism.
30 August 2022
Recipe of Panta Bhat with a Few Survival Tips During a Riot
Hermit-crab fiction use ready-made templates such as recipes, shopping lists, meeting minutes and other forms and is a great way for experimenting with form in short fiction.
29 August 2022
‘Beshya O Bidhushir Golpo’ questions a gender-biassed society
The book contains important research on the type of language used by mainstream media in reporting news of rape, torture, and abuse of women.
28 August 2022
Rage is not singular for immigrants in Sabaa Tahir's novel
“What’s the word for when someone drinks so much, they are ruining your best friend’s life? Or the word for a man so vengeful about his own past that he wants to destroy your future? What’s the word for a woman who was sick for months, but refused to go to the doctor until it was too late?"
27 August 2022
'Celebrating Relationships' is a cookbook for a cause
Every recipe is credited to the person it is inspired from and the country it is staple to. The method of preparation of the dishes is detailed and very well explained, especially for amateur cooks.
27 August 2022
What to read if you liked watching ‘Hawa’
The film is a deep dive into Bangladesh’s rivers and the fishermen who hold up the country’s underbelly, along with the revelry, the mythologies that run across the folk culture of majhis and Bede communities.
27 August 2022
Love at Second Sight
Dream is a mystery sometimes unfolded
amidst creeping eeriness
unstipulated to the seemingly compos mentis.
As long as my stint in your thought
bears a meaning for life
because I wish to worship the sanctity
of your feeling for me and tree,
26 August 2022
I wish the world were a painting
Now I wonder the world is a painting,
an imaginary chamber where captives sing,
like a caged dove obeying a hunter
enticing free birds to live in bliss.
And then I see darkness of dusk fade away
as the sun begins to peek in the east.
26 August 2022
Disrupted Nature and Community in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) is well-known to the literary audience and beyond as the tale of a brilliant and mad scientist who created a horrible monster that in the end brought destruction for its creator.
26 August 2022
Two upcoming Pinocchio films—why does he still resonate?
Zemeckis' version will likely be a comforting trip into nostalgia and sentiment, an ode to the power of the human heart to do the right thing despite life's many temptations. At the same time, del Toro's will be a dark fairytale with troubling implications, examining how we puppets can learn to think for ourselves.
26 August 2022
What impact did the Partition have on Dhaka's book trade?
The impact of the 1947 Partition was felt in every aspect of Dhaka's printing and publishing business, and the book trade in the new provincial capital took a momentous turn. How did it impact the booksellers, printers, and the material being published?
26 August 2022
Ottessa Moshfegh’s ‘Lapvona’: A fairy tale for realists
Lapvona has paupers becoming princes, severe environmental disruptions adding to the owe of the common folk, and the old lady acting as a witch and healer, who serves in the role of a fairy godmother, albeit with a modern touch.
25 August 2022
‘The danger in telling a single Partition story is that it completely erases the individual’
1947 was overtaken almost immediately by the language question, and the question of identity.
25 August 2022
An Untold Story of Sri Lanka
This is a memoir of Sumaiya Samad Mehtaj who visited Sri Lanka this past June as part of a conference team. She was moved by the Lankans handling the critical situation of their country and decided to write this piece.
24 August 2022
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