Fiction & Poetry

Fiction & Poetry

FICTION / Ameena goes to America

A young white officer asks her in heavily accented Bangla, “What’s the purpose of your visit?”

CREATIVE NONFICTION / On a romantic night of self

It has been more than a few weeks since I arrived in London for my Master’s, and I still miss my friends, family, and acquaintances back home.

Poetry / Ruins & renaissance

The hurt remained beneath my skin like an unwritten revelation—never acknowledged, never tended to;

FICTION / The long dinner table

A daughter reflects on time and Bengali culture as she revels in the excitement of cooking her parents a meal.

BOOK REVIEW: POETRY / Abdus Selim’s poetry compilation of the ‘60s is a time machine

Abdus Selim’s translation and compilation is a time machine for all of us living in the new age, where poems have become much neutered.

SHOUTxDS Books presents 'Slam Poetry Nights' — Session 5

For its 5th session, SHOUTx DS Books’ Slam Poetry Nights performed at the Dhaka Lit Fest 2023.

FICTION / Matsyanayam - A story of ancient Bengal, and the queen who lived a hundred years

And in the streets of Shonarga, Luna went about on foot, her nupur clinking against her ankles, notifying all passers-by of the good queen’s proximity.

Poem / Leaf

I saw a leaf falling yesterday. 

Ramadan Maghfirat: How I channelled my rage into inspiration for Sehri Tales

I channelled my hurt, anger and frustration into poetry and flash fiction that had nothing to do with my agitator and her cronies.

Expect

Etched a figurine, taking dots and lines and curves Xeroxed our desires weaving through the blurs

KALBOISAKHI

The very day in bless’d disarray, this is no time to stay in place. As begging kids and homeless dogs flee the chasing skies above,

Euphoria

It was not very late when he saw her inside the cafe. 

Arise Out of the Lock: Celebrating 50 Years of Poetry by Woman Poets of Bangladesh

The poems in this ambitious collection are by women poets writing in Bangla, who have emerged from the land that is now Bangladesh—having lived, or are still living here, or are now part of the first-generation diaspora.

Smoking’s Injurious to Health

Come, let’s smoke a cigarette together on a dark veranda and count how many flats

The Walls of Our Town

All these years walls of our town stood tall, home to white-winged birds, nostalgic sun, tales too deep for us to tell; last night walls came down crashing,

Paulo Coelho, where are you?

I love it when Paulo Coelho’s books start with a challenge or a quest, and The Archer (Penguin Random House, 2020), accordingly, does not fail to open with an intriguing pursuit.  Upon reading the prologue, I thought I was in for a good read; it was rich and humorous, and in line with the writer’s usual mystical tone.

Diversity and nuance mark the Bangladeshi experience in Sohana Manzoor's 'Our Many Longings: Contemporary Short Fiction From Bangladesh'

So many words have been used to describe this nation in the last 50 years. Started from a bottomless basket, and along the way we’ve been called resilient, passionate, corrupt, greedy, full of warmth.

Neutrality is an illusion in Katie Kitamura’s ‘Intimacies’

Katie Kitamura’s latest novel, Intimacies (Riverhead Books, 2021), is a stunning follow-up to its critically acclaimed predecessor, A Separation (2017).

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