News Report / Two Bangladeshi writers make 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist
14 April 2026, 16:54 PM
Two Bangladeshi writers—26-year-old Anmana Manishita, a lecturer at BRAC University, and 33-year-old Shazed Ul Hoq Abir, a lecturer at East West University—have been shortlisted for the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
14 April 2026, 16:54 PM
News Report / From the ashes: Gaza’s first grassroots library rises amid genocide
12 April 2026, 21:43 PM
Two Palestinian writers, Omar Hamad and Ibrahim Massri, have been working since late 2025 to build a library in Gaza during the ongoing genocide. The Phoenix Library is located in the heart of Gaza City and, per a post from the library’s Twitter/X account, is fast approaching its official opening date despite the Gaza Strip and all of occupied Palestine still being subject to Israeli apartheid violence.
12 April 2026, 21:43 PM
NEWS REPORT / Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes to Me secures 2026 NBCC Award, continues global recognition
28 March 2026, 17:07 PM
Celebrated author and activist Arundhati Roy’s 2025 memoir Mother Mary Comes to Me (Penguin, 2025) continues to solidify its place in the zeitgeist and its cultural impact well into 2026, with its recent win at this year’s US National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Award in the Autobiography category.
28 March 2026, 17:07 PM
NEWS REPORT / Rishad Choudhury wins Association for Asian Studies’ 2026 Bernard S. Cohn Prize
13 March 2026, 19:30 PM
Rishad Choudhury, a historian and Assistant Professor of History at Oberlin College, has been awarded the 2026 Bernard S. Cohn Prize by the Association for Asian Studies for his book Hajj Across Empires: Pilgrimage and Political Cultures After the Mughals, 1739-1857 (Cambridge, University Press, 2004).
13 March 2026, 19:30 PM
NEWS REPORT / Arundhati Roy skips Berlinale over Gaza comments and festival response
17 February 2026, 19:09 PM
Arundhati Roy, celebrated Indian writer, essayist, and activist, has recently been at the centre of a controversy surrounding the Berlin International Film Festival regarding comments on the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
17 February 2026, 19:09 PM
EVENT REPORT / Md Ashanur Rahman receives the International Creative Arts Award 2025
19 January 2026, 17:38 PM
On January 18, 2026 novelist and essayist Md Ashanur Rahman was awarded The International Creative Arts Award 2025 by the International Creative Arts, Language & Development Research Centre of the University of Dhaka for his outstanding contribution to literature and its role in Enriching Minds and Inspiring Lives.
19 January 2026, 17:38 PM
NEWS REPORT / NSU DEML launches inaugural certificate course in creative writing
17 January 2026, 16:00 PM
The six-week intensive program offers beginners and budding writers mentor-led guidance in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, focusing on Bangladeshi cultural narratives
17 January 2026, 16:00 PM
EVENT REPORT / Bangladesh’s first interactive mental health book launched
15 January 2026, 13:43 PM
The book features 15 chapters covering essential topics such as attachment styles, love languages, and shadow work.
15 January 2026, 13:43 PM
The changes in our reading habits this year
The changes in our reading habits this year
31 December 2023, 15:25 PM
UPL organises Book Talk highlighting the essence of Bengali poets writing in English
In this discussion, a throughline was drawn from the early 20th century to the early 21st.
24 December 2023, 14:00 PM
An evening of spooks and screams
Each submission, whether poem or prose, was limited to 250 words, and the first team to complete all the prompts would be crowned the winning house.
8 November 2023, 15:55 PM
Poet Asad Chowdhury no more
With the publication of his first collection of poems, Tabak Deya Paan in 1975, Bangla literary scene witnessed the emergence of a powerful new voice.
5 October 2023, 13:55 PM
Book-Buzz back with its second iteration
Ushinor Majumdar’s book details how, since Partition, the Pakistan military junta had continued to exert unjust power over Bengal and its resident Bengalis.
2 October 2023, 14:00 PM
Eminent author, journalist Gita Mehta passes away
Mehta also directed the documentary film Dateline Bangladesh based on her time stationed in Bangladesh during the war.
17 September 2023, 12:32 PM
"Abul Mansur Ahmad had been constantly fighting for change in the society”
Describing Abul Mansur Ahmed as a multi-faceted personality, the speakers said that from a sense of responsibility to the society, he has constantly fought for the rights of citizens, freedom of speech and change in the society.
17 September 2023, 12:00 PM
Applications for the next session of Write Beyond Borders are now open
The lineup of mentors includes a range of writers from South Asia, currently based in and publishing from all over the globe.
19 August 2023, 12:12 PM
The "original and thrilling": The Booker Prizes announces 2023 longlist
The novels are small revolutions, each seeking to energise and awaken the language. Together, they offer startling portraits of the current.
7 August 2023, 15:55 PM
'Small World City': A new speculative literary magazine on the horizon
The creators of Small World City believe that Dhaka’s literary community deserves better recognition and representation, both domestically and globally.
26 July 2023, 14:42 PM
ULAB Creative Writing Certificate Course returns
This year’s sessions will be facilitated by eminent academics, writers, and professionals in their field, such as Professor Kaiser Haq, Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam, Professor Azfar Hussain, Professor Shamsad Mortuza, Arifa Ghani Rahman, and Maisha Hossain.
12 July 2023, 12:50 PM
A day of festivities to celebrate 19 years of Baatighar
Baatighar has organised an evening of music and discussion at its Dhaka outlet on June 18, 2023, from 6 PM onwards.
18 June 2023, 10:44 AM
Can we process trauma through writing?
Iffat Nawaz, together with The Daily Star’s Books & Literary Editor, Sarah Anjum Bari, will discuss the act and impact of processing traumatic memories through writing.
15 June 2023, 10:55 AM
Himal Fiction Fest to showcase the next era of South Asian storytelling
Over the two-week period, six original short stories by emerging South Asian writers will be published on Himal Southasia’s website
11 June 2023, 13:00 PM
Shantona Shantuma: A pioneering manga artist duo in Bangladesh
The ambition was to popularise Bangladeshi manga. At first the initiative was voluntary but later they succeeded to commercialise the publication.
7 June 2023, 13:00 PM
UPL Summer Book Fair 2023 underway
Some of UPL’s best selling titles include 'Political Parties in India' (2022) by Abdul Razzaq and a Bangla translation of Yuval Noah Harari’s 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind' (2014).
4 June 2023, 15:00 PM
Random House Canada accepting open submissions from underrepresented writers
Following submission, the editorial team will respond to writers they are interested within six months.
1 June 2023, 13:00 PM
A Rajshahi University scholar who has helped little magazines thrive
Four little magazines have been published under his editorship.
1 June 2023, 08:22 AM
Bengal Institute to hold nonfiction writing workshop
Participants at the workshop will be introduced to a variety of texts and materials on these topics. It will focus on writing as both craft and concept, how to think about them to write about them.
30 May 2023, 13:05 PM
Commonwealth Short Story Prize ’23 regional winners announced
This year’s submissions included the first ever stories from Togo and Gabon, the newest members of the Commonwealth.
29 May 2023, 14:54 PM