Fiction / The winter ballot
19 September 2026
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Fiction
“I’m sorry, but choosing anywhere near the capital will delay your citizenship process by at least five years,” said the woman at the counter of the immigration office. “The capital itself will cost you a lifetime.”
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
Book Review: Fiction / Finding stillness in ‘Being Water’
17 September 2026
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Books & Literature
Essay / ‘The Odyssey’ and what we lose when myth belongs only to its heroes
15 September 2026
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Essay
News Report / BRAC Institute of Languages and The Daily Star redefine English Education for youth
13 September 2026
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News
Book review: Fiction / Finding home, identity, and art in ‘Parsa’s Pithas’
11 September 2026
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Reviews
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 / “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
Event Report / Letters across a lifetime: The 20th staging of Love Letters
21 June 2026
On June 19, 2026, the occasion was the 20th staging of “Love Letters”, A. R. Gurney’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, translated and adapted into Bangla by writer and translator Professor Abdus Selim. Directed by veteran theatre actor and director Tropa Majumdar and staged by Group Theatre at the Dr. Nilima Ibrahim Auditorium, the production brought together the acting power couple, Ramendu Majumdar and Ferdausi Majumdar. Their performances transformed what could have easily been a simple reading of letters into something deeply intimate and profoundly human.
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
You ask me
If I’m doing well but the sun is being cruel as I protest the rape and murder of yet another child.
My belly gurgles—I wanted to feel grateful this Ramadan,
25 July 2026
The writing’s boring, so he’s a third-class writer
Some authors are gadflies, ever stinging and nettling the established order. Some write for more or less the same reason a carpenter works with wood, or a sous-chef does mise en place.
25 July 2026
The queen who would not stay dead
The history of the six wives of Henry VIII has become the stuff of legend in English history.
23 July 2026
A historian’s vision vis-a-vis Hindutva mythmaking
Illustrious historian Romila Thapar’s monumental memoir, Just Being, explores many subjects: her childhood days in Lahore, exciting archaeological expeditions, enunciation of the historiography she has followed, etc. But what perhaps stands out in this fascinating book is her sustained confrontation with Hindutva, which is still continuing unabated.
23 July 2026
Lira’s glasses
“Mama, I will drive you”, their chauffeur pleaded.
“I can drive, Mama. Please take a day off”, she smiled at him.
Before starting the car, she took her purse in her hands, opened it slowly, and put on her glasses. She decided to see, after all.
19 July 2026
Special Discussion Marks Abul Hasnat’s Birth Anniversary: ‘Nabiner Shahittya: Shwapna O Shwapnabhongo’
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.
19 July 2026
Home
Loosened from the
narrative of my own living
is a world
18 July 2026
The knife seller
People call me the Knife Seller.
I cannot recall when the name came to be. Neither did I ever correct anyone. I preferred it that way. It makes my job easier.
18 July 2026
The teacher beyond the classroom
My earliest memories of Professor Fakrul sir are, naturally, of the classroom.
18 July 2026
A silent warning against the modern life
The story marks a quiet departure from Obayed Haq’s recent releases, while also hinting at the pitfalls of modernity. In today’s fast-paced world, amid the noise and light pollution of everyday life, Obayed Haq’s protagonist reminds readers to slow down, or at least to take a long, hard look at our easy enmeshment with the “modern” life.
16 July 2026
Who wrote the life you’re living?
Are you writing about your life in your own way? Or are you merely borrowing the very strings that tie you to society’s expectations? Through Tokyo’s gauzy midnight light, Mieko Kawakami’s All the Lovers in the Night captures the stillness of a generation suspended between desire and exhaustion, passion and pressure which reveal paralysis as cultural weather rather than personal defect.
16 July 2026
Let there be monsters: On AI mythology
Ask any room of people about their deepest fears regarding artificial intelligence, and eight out of 10 will likely invoke a takeover narrative—the “Frankenstein syndrome”, where the creation turns against the creator.
16 July 2026
“Our Story”: Where parents and children made memories by hand
A unique and heartwarming workshop, designed to celebrate the beautiful journey of parenthood through creative expression and quality time
15 July 2026
What he called love
A photograph slipped from an envelope while Alia rummaged through an old metal trunk.
11 July 2026
A cruel radiance of vibrant yearning
In this essay, Jibanananda Das’s poem “In Camp” is presented within a new theoretical framework. My primary objective is to dissect it in the light of my proposed “Existential-Imagism.” (The Daily Star, 2026).
11 July 2026
The Naysayer
A name. The Naysayer. A terrible name he had earned, a name he had carried in rage and grief. But it no longer mattered. What mattered was this world. With a wave of his hand, the layers of ash and dust peeled back like dying petals, revealing the scorched land above. He stepped onto the surface of the dead world, unsteady, grief filling his ancient heart as he beheld the guttering fires.
10 July 2026
5 books published in this year’s Boi Mela that you should read
For readers who like short fiction with range, Upoma Odhikari’s Hibernation is an easy recommendation. The book brings together seven stories across different genres, written in a soft, distinctly Bangladeshi voice that feels increasingly confident as you go.
7 July 2026
Leftovers
Morning greets us with
Upturned eyes. Or is it just me?
4 July 2026
Incomplete
Get drunk by Gazal they say,
I never understood that
Until now,
4 July 2026
Where the blood doesn’t speak
When Reza was 10, war lived on the rooftop.
4 July 2026
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