Books Briefing: Dhaka Comics seeks horror stories

Dhaka Comics, a Bangladeshi comic book publisher founded in 2013, is holding an online comic book writing contest to promote budding artists of all ages. This year, the annual contest's theme is horror comics.

The popular publisher has asked interested artists to send their work by November 10.

After an initial screening process, selected works will be uploaded to the "web comics" section of Dhaka Comics' website. Winners will be chosen by public ratings and a jury board and announced on November 15.

The publisher told The Daily Star it's looking for originality, local context in storytelling, and quality of drawing and storytelling in the entries. Since winning pieces will be added as "web comics" -- which is a different genre from regular comic books -- Dhaka Comics will add some animation and sound effect panels appropriate for the genre.

Winners will receive certificates and crests, and have their works published in a print comic book in February 2021.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Dhaka Comics highlighted that the youth of Bangladesh have the capability and energy to produce excellent stories with standard graphics. These artists want to tell their own stories based on their own culture while catering to a global visual taste.

Dhaka Comics' repertoire consists of numerous works, a number of which have gained popularity with readers. The "Ruhan Ruhan" series by Muhammad Zafar Iqbal; romance, sci-fi and thriller stories by Qazi Anwar Hussain; and the recently released "Durjoy" series by Touhidul Iqbal Sampad are some of them.

The organisation have now began translating stories into English for an international audience, started an online app ,and expanding into stories from West Bengal.

All submissions must be sent to dhakacomics@gmail.com.

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