Translation

ESSAY / “Dostoevsky” by Ahmed Sofa

A translation of Ahmed Sofa's essay on Dostoyevsky

Of translation

The challenge of untranslatability is something that the translator has to contend with throughout the process of the enterprise.

EVENT REPORT / Anubad Sahitya Puraskar 2024: Celebrating the achievements of translators

Speakers talked about the losses and the gains of the meaning of text after having undergone translation, about the responsibility and the power that a translator holds in taking an author’s words and transforming it for a different reader base.

BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / The enchanting realism in Shahaduz Zaman’s ‘The Mynah Bird’s Testimony’

Shahaduz Zaman is a familiar face in Bangladeshi literature, whose literary career spans decades of fruitful work. He regularly writes columns for Bangla newspapers, has written a few notable biographical fiction, such as Ekjon Komolalebu (Prothoma, 2017), based around the life of Jibanananda Das, and has garnered some duly needed appreciation for ethnographic work on the history of medicine during the liberation war.

BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / Aimless in Morisaki bookshop

My introduction to the Bangla translation of Japanese books happened during my visit to Baatighar Chittagong. It was there that I encountered the Bangla translations of works by one of my favourite Japanese writers, Haruki Murakami, back in 2021. Then last year, I found myself enchanted with the promise of Morisaki Boighorer Dinguli (Abosar Prokashona, 2023); the allure of the black edition of the book boasting ebony pages and stunning artwork had me yearning for the book months before its scheduled release.

FICTION / Wings Across A City Wall

Shimu and Tushar had grown up together on an alley in the Mirpur area of Dhaka city. Their neighbouring houses were separated only by a brick wall, about two meters high. The branches of a tree growing beside Tushar’s house overhung the wall, its foliage shading a part of Shimu’s courtyard.

Poetry / Diasporic delusions

Self-confidence shaken, some shattered memories in their side bags

BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / Memoirs of our unsung heroes

Massacre, murder, torture, violence, bayonet, bloodshed, grenade, displacement, death—these words bring to mind a war scenario.

Book review: Fiction / Emily Wilson’s ‘The Iliad’ is a triumph in translation

Wilson hasn’t written a retelling from the perspectives of the subjugated but has rather been true to the original, although she doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the sheer misogyny of the Homeric period.

February 23, 2024
February 23, 2024

“Dostoevsky” by Ahmed Sofa

A translation of Ahmed Sofa's essay on Dostoyevsky

February 18, 2024
February 18, 2024

Of translation

The challenge of untranslatability is something that the translator has to contend with throughout the process of the enterprise.

February 15, 2024
February 15, 2024

Anubad Sahitya Puraskar 2024: Celebrating the achievements of translators

Speakers talked about the losses and the gains of the meaning of text after having undergone translation, about the responsibility and the power that a translator holds in taking an author’s words and transforming it for a different reader base.

February 15, 2024
February 15, 2024

The enchanting realism in Shahaduz Zaman’s ‘The Mynah Bird’s Testimony’

Shahaduz Zaman is a familiar face in Bangladeshi literature, whose literary career spans decades of fruitful work. He regularly writes columns for Bangla newspapers, has written a few notable biographical fiction, such as Ekjon Komolalebu (Prothoma, 2017), based around the life of Jibanananda Das, and has garnered some duly needed appreciation for ethnographic work on the history of medicine during the liberation war.

January 18, 2024
January 18, 2024

Aimless in Morisaki bookshop

My introduction to the Bangla translation of Japanese books happened during my visit to Baatighar Chittagong. It was there that I encountered the Bangla translations of works by one of my favourite Japanese writers, Haruki Murakami, back in 2021. Then last year, I found myself enchanted with the promise of Morisaki Boighorer Dinguli (Abosar Prokashona, 2023); the allure of the black edition of the book boasting ebony pages and stunning artwork had me yearning for the book months before its scheduled release.

January 13, 2024
January 13, 2024

Wings Across A City Wall

Shimu and Tushar had grown up together on an alley in the Mirpur area of Dhaka city. Their neighbouring houses were separated only by a brick wall, about two meters high. The branches of a tree growing beside Tushar’s house overhung the wall, its foliage shading a part of Shimu’s courtyard.

November 25, 2023
November 25, 2023

Diasporic delusions

Self-confidence shaken, some shattered memories in their side bags

October 19, 2023
October 19, 2023

Memoirs of our unsung heroes

Massacre, murder, torture, violence, bayonet, bloodshed, grenade, displacement, death—these words bring to mind a war scenario.

October 17, 2023
October 17, 2023

Emily Wilson’s ‘The Iliad’ is a triumph in translation

Wilson hasn’t written a retelling from the perspectives of the subjugated but has rather been true to the original, although she doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the sheer misogyny of the Homeric period.

September 30, 2023
September 30, 2023

The question of translation

There is no denying the truism that translation historically served the best interest of the colonisers.

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