Bengali Literature

#Perspective / Madhusudan Dutta: The writer who played with the gods

Hailed as the first modern poet and the first rebel poet of Bangla literature, Madhusudan’s rebellion against the conservative society and the contemporary style of literature was daring and the first step towards modern Bangla literature.

Home is where my books are

How do you pack 25 years of your life in two suitcases?

FEATURE / Begum Rokeya and Begum Sufia An enduring “mother-daughter” bond

Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) and Begum Sufia Kamal (1911-1999), two icons in Bangla literature and culture, were not kins but kindred spirits.

The rebels of Madhusudan

Neeldhaja is the first Bangla poem to be written in the form of a letter; it places a female figure with a rebellious demeanor as the protagonist of a historical narrative.

Interview / ‘We are translators every day’: Arunava Sinha

You must read like a reader and not like an academic student. If the book you’re translating is a general book, it’s going to be read by readers. Intelligent readers perhaps, but readers nevertheless.

Where to start reading Samaresh Majumdar

Dipabali’s character in Satkahon said aloud what was on every girl’s mind.

‘The room by the window was Baba’s favourite’: Doel Majumdar

The last rites of the renowned writer, beloved by readers in both Bengals, was held yesterday.

Samaresh Majumdar—A rebel to look up to

In his novels, Samaresh Majumdar always made his characters walk against the current.

Akhteruzzaman Elias: There is always an other to be purged

Shill edited the present volume as a rich collection of memories and evaluations of Akhteruzzaman Elias by his friends and relatives, some renowned literary figures of the Bangla language, as well as some occasional thoughts by Elias himself.

February 25, 2023
February 25, 2023

Remembering the Bangla language movement through literature

Hasan Hafizur Rahman's 'Ekushey February' created huge turmoil and faced police persecution.

February 25, 2023
February 25, 2023

‘The language movement did not reject the importance of dialects’: Syed Manzoorul Islam

Professor Islam sheds light on English writing in Bangladesh, its future, and the influence of the language movement on the Bangladeshi psyche.

February 19, 2023
February 19, 2023

Benefits of reading Bengali literature

In addition to all the cognitive benefits associated with reading, reading in your first language has plenty of other benefits, including knowing about your country and countrymen in the language of the land.

February 18, 2023
February 18, 2023

Jibanananda Das: What happened to him “One Day Eight Years Ago”?

There's something more to it that trammeled his existence, and he wanted to escape the suffocation.

February 12, 2023
February 12, 2023

Revisiting Syed Mujtaba Ali’s 'Shabnam'

A face may launch a thousand ships but the very woman with the face has a passive presence in literature.

January 21, 2023
January 21, 2023

Ghosts in Bangla literature and culture

“Bhoot”, the Bangla word for ghost, derives from the Sanskrit word Bhūta, referring to living beings and the past. Later, it also came to mean ‘disembodied spirit.’ Ghost stories carry a special tradition in Bangla literature and the root lies in folklore and rural culture.

November 23, 2022
November 23, 2022

On poet Sufia Kamal: A revolutionary journey

She came out from the cocoon of the accepted designated roles of women and marched forward to live an extraordinary life. 

November 21, 2022
November 21, 2022

Children’s author Ali Imam no more

Ali Imam, the author of more than 600 books, breathed his last on Monday evening in the Bangladesh Medical College Hospital in the capital’s Dhanmondi area.

October 20, 2022
October 20, 2022

What I write about when I write love stories

A long time ago, when I was a young writer who had just published his first collection of short stories and had just been married to a young and lovely woman, I wrote a love story in the first person, which created two unanticipated problems.

October 16, 2022
October 16, 2022

Kathaprokash celebrates author Mashrur Arefin's work

Four of Arefin’s novels have been published so far, alongside three books of poetry and critically acclaimed translations of the Iliad and of Kafka’s short stories. 

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