He joined the army at eighteen; a soldier through and through. He was tall, sturdy, ruddy-faced, and almost always urbane. Mahmud was my neighbour for nearly five years. He had moved from barely inhabited hilly terrain of Khagrachhari to the city of a heightened breeding place, old Dhaka. His decision to leave the vacuous and soulless life of the barrack could be being closer to his own children– all of them were assumed to be in their primes.

I could make a kite From the petals of my heart To be flown by my son As a magic carpet, Instead of an elegy Lamenting my death. 

In a time when Bangladeshi film industry is grievously experiencing the dearth of powerful narrative and proper storytelling; be it commercial or historical or any other genre, Chandrabati Kotha (The Tales of Chandrabati) directed by N. Rashed Chowdhury shows some light for the industry.

Love Marriage (Simon & Schuster, 2022), Monica Ali’s latest novel, is set in contemporary London, and the city, along with its concurrent glory, glides in the background as a couple endeavours to bring their families together for their wedding.

The book reveals how in mid-19th century colonial East Bengal jute first emerged “as a global commodity”

“The process of translation is a rigorous delight. But the product? As a translator, you also always carry with you an anxious awareness of the ways in which you have fallen short. You have seen it, that, at least, you hope; but you have failed to carry it over.” - Tom Kuhn.

Kafka’s world is chaotic. His stories, no matter how bizarre their plots, are always ones that we can connect to. 

 Nobody’s Children is a collection of “ten real stories” of homeless children living without any of the support or privilege we take for granted.

Sweet Bean Paste (2013) by Durian Sukegawa is a tale of friendship and redemption in an unforgiving society.

Sally Rooney is well known for transforming her novels into visually pleasing and satisfactory adaptations.

Honeyman gives Eleanor a personality beyond her mental illness.

Boitoi, the largest e-book platform of Bangladesh, is organizing a 15-day ebook fair from June 16 to June 30. 

“We witnessed great footfall in the afternoon and are glad that people came to the celebrations even amidst this gloomy weather,” shared Zafar Ahmed Rashed, CEO and Chief Editor, about the first day of the event.

A pity, it began as a reflective study. A bird’s eye view of Kafka’s conundrum  Is a fallen leaf lost, or free? I slid a window wide open Found a dead moth crumpled on the sill.

Drowned paddy fields look beautiful throughout the day. In the morning, when there is a rough wind, the flooded rice plants dance in the reflection of drenched sunlight.

Fame, at least in the wake of industrial revolution and immediately after, had as much to do with “production” and “distribution” as with “talent.

Each of them represented a unique crisis that women in our country are most frequently faced with, and when I had their stories assembled, I knew this was what I was looking for. 

Azhar was a forty-year-old bachelor and an expert locksmith. He also owned a hardware store. He was generally considered to be a good citizen even though fifteen years ago, he went to prison for stealing jewels. But since then, he has been very careful about not getting caught. The stolen money helped him travel around and enjoy the small luxuries of life.

As someone who writes novels, writes about them, and generally works in the medium of prose, I’ve always had an unspeakable envy and admiration for literary forms that take on the moving body of performance.

The protruding question we’re left with is this: is the allocated sum for purchasing even merely enough to support our publishers in this grave time?