Essay / A beginner’s guide to ‘Khwabnama’

31 July 2026, 00:00 AM Books & Literature
In the year 1996, just a year before his untimely death, Aktaruzzaman Elias had published his magnum opus, Khwabnama.

Poetry / You ask me
25 July 2026, 00:00 AM ⁠⁠Poetry
Book Review: Fiction / The queen who would not stay dead
23 July 2026, 00:00 AM Books & Literature
Fiction / Lira’s glasses
19 July 2026, 19:00 PM ⁠⁠Fiction
Interview / Kishwar Chowdhury on Bangali culture and culinary storytelling
11 June 2026, 00:00 AM
When the MasterChef favourite Kishwar Chowdhury and writer Samai Haider caught up to talk about Chowdhury’s debut cookbook Smoke, Rice, Water (Hardie Grant Books, 2026), the conversation quickly morphed into something much larger than publishing deadlines and recipe testing.
News Report / Marjane Satrapi, voice of exile and resistance, dies at 56
4 June 2026, 17:58 PM
Satrapi offered a deeply personal account of life under Iran’s Islamic regime while creating a story that resonated with readers worldwide

The records of resilience

Much of the reminiscences in The Murti Boys encompass the grittiness of staving off the Pakistanis with little weaponry and a great deal of quick thinking. 
19 September 2023, 15:00 PM

The fearless, experimental poetry of Binoy Majumdar

As time passed by and as the poet made an introspection in seclusion, he dug up such verses which to the reader might feel like a revelation of truth.
18 September 2023, 15:00 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

The colour of revolution is red

And along with our bodies, the rage keeps on, / we chafe and bleed and clot and steer; / we go mad and nude
16 September 2023, 15:22 PM

Love, when you’re an adrenaline junky

And in spite of knowing this/ In spite of the absurdity of it all/ You let yourself fall
15 September 2023, 18:00 PM

The Writer

The lad appeared to be very humble and slowly took a seat. But I noticed that he did not take his eyes off my face even once. He kept on staring at me through his glasses.
15 September 2023, 18:00 PM

Rethinking Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, the humanist

Despite his caste-consciousness and critical depiction of the social prejudices of colonial Bengal, he never directly opposed them; in his real life, he was an upholder of traditional Hindu patriarchy and Brahmin-dominated caste society.
15 September 2023, 14:00 PM

When all else fails, satirise

This week, the Daily Star Books compiles a list of satirical fiction for our readers to feast on. In sociopolitical climates rife with crackdowns and censorship, satire takes on the burden of giving a voice to matters that cannot be spoken about otherwise.
13 September 2023, 18:00 PM

The occult thrills of ‘The Centre’

Rarely does a book arrive, a debut no less, that feels as inventive and accomplished as Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi’s The Centre. Her novel is built on the crossroads of interpretation and ownership, of the power of language and of those privileged enough to reclaim it.
13 September 2023, 18:00 PM

A paean to storytelling

Following the trails of Imaginary Homelands (Penguin Books, 1992) and Step Across The Line (Modern Library, 2003), comprising essays written and lectures given by Salman Rushdie between 2003-2020, Languages of Truth is Rushdie’s third collection of nonfiction works and is as a delectable read as its predecessors if not more.
13 September 2023, 18:00 PM

When literature meets food

The author paints an engrossing picture of her experiences and memories, both influenced by food, which is true for most of the people in this world, and particularly for South Asians.
13 September 2023, 15:25 PM

‘The Dark Elf Trilogy’: The synergy between the novels and graphic novels

By visually capturing the characters, landscapes, and action scenes, the graphic novels enhance the reading experience and offer a fresh perspective on the beloved story.
13 September 2023, 13:55 PM

5 books for readers with an appetite

The Hundred Foot Journey is the story of an immigrant Indian family who sets up a restaurant right in front of a famous French relais and the feud it ensues.
11 September 2023, 22:25 PM

The brilliance of Bibhutibhushan: Of sensations, details, and accentual intimacy

Bibhuti Babu’s pen tenderly reveals the nudity of apparently disturbing feelings and emotions that we are so ashamed and afraid to accept and express.
11 September 2023, 22:09 PM

The beauty of translation and Tagore’s lyricism

"This book is a way for me to express my own emotions associated with Tagore’s lyrics”, Fakrul Alam shared his thoughts at the launch of 'Gitabitan'.
11 September 2023, 22:00 PM

Feeding desperation

Dickens, a literary luminary of his era, exposes the vicious cycle where hunger and desperation divide society, laying bare the inequities perpetuated by an exploitative system.
11 September 2023, 15:55 PM

Into the unknown: Fairytale retellings in ‘The Myth Bridge’

The creators discussed the thought process that led to the creation of the characters' journey, the challenges they encountered during the writing and editing process, and the inspiration behind the narrative choices.
11 September 2023, 13:55 PM

The matriarchy of food

It is a truth universally acknowledged that food is the undisputed sixth love language that Gary Chapman forgot to mention in his 1992 book. Or maybe it’s just the gastronome in me speaking.
8 September 2023, 18:00 PM

The alterities of hunger

In two of the more prominent fictional works that are part of the diasporic South Asian literary production, Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake and Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, food is presented as a conceptual apparatus that makes palatable the tensions of ‘multiculturalism’ and offers a critique of class barriers—if not always at the level of economics, but at the level of consciousness.
8 September 2023, 18:00 PM
Show in Mobile App Off
Show Sub Category Off
Show in Homescreen Off