Secrets, silences, and storytelling: Inside the launch of Razia Sultana’s new anthology

On April 25, The Reading Circle celebrated its 20th anniversary with the launch of Stories My Grandma (Never) Told Me at Ajo Idea Space in Gulshan-2. Published by Nymphea Publication, the anthology brings together stories exploring family secrets, memory, and women’s histories.

Editor Razia Sultana Khan opened the event by introducing the contributors and reflecting on the book’s development through months of workshops with writers. She also spoke about grandmothers as custodians of oral tradition, carrying stories, memories, and knowledge across generations, and conveyed that knowledge moves through women’s spaces: through uthans and kitchens, weddings and wakes, in the lullabies and the counsel and the texture of daily life. These were the circuits through which stories had travelled, generation to generation, without ever being written down.

Founded in 2006 by Niaz Zaman, Farida S Enayet, and Nasreen Kabir, The Reading Circle began as a small monthly reading group and has since grown into a literary community of more than 40 members who have collectively discussed over 240 books. The idea for the anthology emerged from conversations among members during the pandemic, leading Khan to invite contributors in early 2025 to write stories centered on family secrets.

Several contributors read from their work during the launch. Nawar Fairooz presented “Rank and File”, a story examining silence and complicity within a Bangladeshi family. Tanveer Haq read from “Born in a Rice Paddy”, inspired by the story of an ancestor giving birth alone in a rice field. Mariam Ispahani shared “The Journey Back to Dushanbe”, while Farhana Shehabuddin presented “The Decree”. Readings also came from Lamia Sultana and Asifur Rahman, whose stories explored family curses, memory, and unresolved disappearances. Khan concluded the readings with her own story, “Al Mizan”, set in early 20th-century Dhaka, that centred questions of morality and judgment.

The event also featured remarks from Sarker Hasan Al Zayed, who wrote the anthology’s foreword. Reflecting on memories of his grandmother, he described the collection as an effort to recover stories often left unspoken within families.

The anthology is divided into three sections—“Behind Closed Doors”, “The Burden of Truth”, and ‘Fractured Realities’—bringing together stories that move between domestic life, confession, and the uncanny. The stories in this collection, Sultana posed, are offered not as conclusions, but as openings. The circle, after all this time, is still widening, she said.   

The cover of the book also added a layer to this event, featuring tepa putuls gathered around a storyteller, echoing the collection’s focus on oral history and shared memory.

The evening concluded with conversations among writers, readers, and guests, marking both the publication of the anthology and two decades of The Reading Circle’s literary community.

Kazi Raidah Afia Nusaiba is a contributor.