NEW from The Daily Star Books

The book comprises a curated collection of essays written by Professor Fakrul Alam on various occasions for The Daily Star, starting from 1999 until now.
21 February 2020, 18:00 PM

New Books: Ekushey Boi Mela, 2020

The poems in this collection explore issues plaguing the world right now—poverty, class inequality, climate crisis, warfare and
21 February 2020, 18:00 PM

An Afternoon on Syed Manzoorul Islam’s Absurd Night

An interesting event of launching the revised translation of Syed Manzoorul Islam’s novel Ajgubi Raat took place on Saturday, February
21 February 2020, 18:00 PM

Ekushe February: An ode to an unforgettable event

The book is titled: Ekushe February. The title gives away the theme of the book undoubtedly. What’s so special about it? What’s special is the fact that this is the first ever compilation in Bangla literature on the events of the language movement of 1952.
17 February 2020, 18:00 PM

New Books

Dakkhin Asiar Diaspora Shahitya: Itihash, Tatta o Shongkot: A Book on South Asian Diaspora by Mojaffor Hossain
14 February 2020, 18:00 PM

Of Myths, Migrants and Misconceptions: A Personal Essay on Charges

The Reading Circle (TRC) a book club in Dhaka, started the new year with a Literary Encounter at the Goethe Institut onSaturday, January 4. The book for discussion was Charges by Elfriede Jelinek.
24 January 2020, 18:00 PM

Wild Boars, Flies, Love, Loss, Identity: Wild Boar in the Cane Field

The aforementioned line rises to utmost significance once the novel reaches its end. It would be better to leave this explanation untouched in the review for the readers’ sake.
17 January 2020, 18:00 PM

Marriage Story: A Dead Marriage and Vulture Lawyers

The title of Noah Baumbach’s 2019 movie Marriage Story is perhaps ironic and misleading.
3 January 2020, 18:00 PM

A Befitting Centenary Tribute to a Major Poet of Our Subcontinent

If people in Bangladesh remember Kaifi Azmi (1919-2002) now, it is either because of the famous songs he wrote for popular Hindu films such as Kagaz Ke Phool (1959), Pakeezah (1972) and Aarth (1982), or because he is the father of the celebrated actress-activist and member of the Indian Rajya Sabha, Shabana Azmi.
6 December 2019, 18:00 PM

On DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2019

The DSC Prize celebrating the rich and varied world literature in South Asia 2019 had announced its longlist on September 26, 2019 evening at the Oxford Bookstore in New Delhi.
29 November 2019, 18:00 PM

Recalling Times Past

Ahh! Yours truly was positively ecstatic as he rapidly flipped through the two hundred-odd pages of Curtain Call: English Language Plays in Dhaka 1950-1970, written by the brother-sister duo of Raza Ali and Niaz Zaman.
22 November 2019, 18:00 PM

A Landmark Anthology

Containing pieces of nearly seventy poets in their 40s, Modern English Poetry by Younger Indians (2019) can be called a landmark new anthology that maps contemporary poetry scene in India and the broader Indian diaspora.
15 November 2019, 18:00 PM

Shakespearewallah: From Bengal to Belfast

Here we are on the Irish border for Hallowe’en, originally a Celtic festival designed to propitiate the ghosts of the dead.
8 November 2019, 18:00 PM

Guru Dakshina: Legends through the Eyes of a Disciple

Almost all the readers of this review, I believe, know of the dramatist Momtazuddin Ahmed, National Professor Anisuzzaman or social activist Dr. Anupam Sen. It is a matter of some clicks on your mouse to get to know about these legends from Bangladesh. But, maybe, some of you sympathize with me that you do not know them through the microscopic lens of a student, who were in good terms with these leading lights within the four walls of classrooms and even outside.
1 November 2019, 18:00 PM

Longlist for the dsc Prize for South Asian Literature 2019

The US $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, which is now in its ninth year, announced its keenly awaited longlist on September 25, 2019. The longlist of 15 novels, which represent the best in South Asian fiction writing, was unveiled by the chair of the jury panel Harish Trivedi at a special event at the Oxford Bookstore in New Delhi.
4 October 2019, 18:00 PM

Samarkand: A Review

“Look ‘round thee now on Samarcand, Is she not queen of earth? Her pride Above all cities? In her hand
4 October 2019, 18:00 PM

Happy Reading! Bauler Akhray Fa-kirer Deray

There is no denying that folklore is simply the tale of simple human beings, their everyday stories-stories of love and pain, happiness and hardships. Folk literature is different from others as it deals with the root. Folk literature always looks for the opportunity to
27 September 2019, 18:00 PM

Origins: A Memoir

The Lebanese-born and Paris resident explores the notion of being an émigré. As he says, I seldom return to my country of origin, and then only when circumstances compel me to…almost always the death of a loved one.” Correspondingly, he is told “Here, families have
13 September 2019, 18:00 PM

From Liberation War Hero to Prison and After: A Sobering Tale

Two narratives counterpoint each other in Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury’s Chariot of Life: Liberation War, Politics and Sojourn in Jail. The first is the absorbing story of major events in the author’s life till the closing years of the first decade of this century. The second is
13 September 2019, 18:00 PM

Review of Arundhati Roy’s Things that can and cannot be said

After I finished Things that can and cannot be said, I stood in awe of how much power I held in my hands. In this slim volume were the musings, passing insights, and finally, the long-awaited encounter—albeit censored—of some of the strongest voices against modern-day empire.
22 August 2019, 18:00 PM