Daily Star Books
ESSAY / Zadie Smith’s rhetorical tricks
Smith’s framing runs into the same blind spot in other criticisms levelled at student protests, i.e. it detaches the student’s cause from the activists, academics, and journalists, Palestinian or otherwise, who have been documenting Israel’s settler colonial project for 75 years.
REVIEW: LITERARY MAGAZINE / 'Small World City' Issue 04: Another dosage of the beautiful and the haunted
The latest offering from the online literary journal feels, in many respects, like their most polished work yet
INTERVIEW / A perfect cup of literary ‘saa’
Priyanka Taslim greets me with a gentle smile as we meet over Zoom. She is eloquent and our conversation flows organically, akin to an adda over a cup of saa (cha).
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / It’s ‘Mean Girls’ meets ‘Heathers’ meets ‘The Craft’
The best part of this book is perhaps the fact that all the weird, bonkers cultish stuff just happens with no rhyme or reason to it.
BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / (Re)visit to the alleys of contestation, narratives, and memories that the Partition left behind
The book discusses the lack of sensitivity among policymakers in acknowledging the distinct socio-cultural differences and linguistic and community identities of the refugees that often got merged. It explores how different categories of refugees received different treatments.
BOOK REVIEW: GRAPHIC NOVEL / A love letter to traveling with friends
A review of ‘Roaming’ (Drawn and Quarterly, 2023) by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
INTERVIEW / The stories we want to tell: In conversation with Gemini Wahhaj
In Gemini Wahhaj’s debut novel, The Children of This Madness (7.13 Books, 2023), the follow the lives of engineering professor Nasir Uddin and his daughter Beena, an aspiring PhD candidate living in the US.
THE SHELF / 6 Books to add to your summer reading list
As summer rolls around and our lifestyle changes to adjust to the heat, so do a lot of our books! So here are a few books that might make a good addition to this year’s summer reading list.
REFLECTION / The endless scream
A reflection on Mahmoud Darwish’s 'A River Dies of Thirst: Diaries' (first published by Archipelago in 2009)
INTERVIEW / Uncovering history through storytelling
In conversation with Reem Bassiouney on the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, 'Al Halwani', and bridging the cultural gap
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / The strange library of Haruki Murakami
Review of the Bangla translation of ‘A Strange Library’ (Knopf, 2014) by Haruki Murakami
A flowing conversation at Dhaka Flow Festival 2024
On the midday of a warm spring, Dhaka Flow Fest 2024 organised a delightful reading session at Baridhara Lakeside Rajuk Park with authors Farah Ghuznavi, Neeman Sobhan, Salahdin Imam, and Nahiyan Ameen
‘Father of the Nation Bangabandhu’ marries the art of Japanese storytelling with the rich tapestry of Bangladesh’s history
A review of 'Father of the Nation Bangabandhu' (NRB Scholars, 2024) by ME Chowdhury Shameem and Iwamoto Keita
Designing our past and for our future
The author, architect Tanwir Nawaz, besides expressing his thoughts, ideas, and artistic struggles within a body of professional works, has poured his emotions and nostalgic memories into Exploring the World of Architecture and Design.
The ‘new oil’ transforming the world
Chip War, a highly praised book written by Chris Miller who teaches International history at Tuft University’s Fletcher School, USA, is a New York Times bestseller.
A country coming to life
Weaving the grand themes of politics and history, the book is a revelation into how the ordinary lives within a country are buffeted by constant changes.
‘Untranquil Recollections’: Revisiting the past with Professor Rehman Sobhan
On March 9, 2024, University Press Limited (UPL) hosted a discussion with Professor Rehman Sobhan, moderated by Dr Akhter Mahmood, on the two volumes of 'Untranquil Recollections'
Stories of survivorship, courage, and hope for a country that cares
A closer look into these stories reveal reasons why cancer continues to be dreaded—it is not just fear of the malady itself, but also the challenges of undergoing treatment through an overburdened healthcare system and its exorbitant costs.
‘Living Letters’ with Iffat Nawaz: A shared journey towards resolution and emotional clarity
On March 5, 2024, the writer held the inaugural session of her writing workshop series, “Living Letters”, at The Daily Star Centre in collaboration with Goethe Institut Bangladesh, Sister Library, and Star Books and Literature
Manga on Bangabandhu wins bronze medal at 17th Japan International Manga Award
On 5 March 2024, at the 17th Japan International Manga Awards, a manga portraying the life and struggle of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman received a bronze medaeruml, making it the first Bangladeshi manga to be featured in and to have won such a prestigious award
Bangladesh beyond geopolitics in a new multipolar world: what’s new in foreign policy trajectory?
Both the China and India factors in Bangladesh’s foreign policy decisions, as identified in Li Jianjun and Deb Mukharji’s chapters, will be continuously evolving and contributing factors that would perhaps influence Bangladesh’s policies with other countries as well.
