fiction

The new speculative literary magazine on the block

Veering off from stories for a bit, Fahim Anzoom Rumman’s “The Secret” was a breath of fresh air. The piece seemed to be a cross between a poem and the kind of fable your grandparents would tell you as a kid to get you to fall asleep.
2 September 2023, 16:15 PM

In the sand dunes

His face was growing warmer, it seemed as though the intangible entity that was stinging his closed eyes was growing stronger.
1 September 2023, 18:00 PM

The graveyard in Banani

Love is the enormous mango tree growing directly from an ancient grave, so old that no headstone remains at all.
1 September 2023, 04:55 AM

6 wonderful books to celebrate the Women in Translation month

‘Women in Translation’ is an all-inclusive, international project that aims to terminate the continual discrimination faced by non-English female authors, and gives them due recognition.
30 August 2023, 18:00 PM

“Pettiness, Prejudice, and Pets with Panache”

I first came across Anastasia Ryan’s work through my Instagram wanderings and was instantly intrigued by the sound of her recently released novel. Not least by its title, You Should Smile More.
30 August 2023, 18:00 PM

Remembering Melville in his bicentenary year

Melville's critics, inevitably, panned him for what he had characterised self-deprecatingly and in his frustration as his fictional "botches," although his works were rarely that.
29 August 2023, 04:55 AM

Why grown-ups should reimmerse themselves in children's literature

Children's literature is purposefully crafted for a segment of society without political or economic clout—individuals devoid of wealth, suffrage, or command over the levers of finance and governance.
25 August 2023, 04:55 AM

Why I learned more from reading fiction books than nonfiction

It is deeply saddening that this discouragement to read fiction is coming at a time when we as a population are suffering from a crisis in empathy.
23 August 2023, 15:55 PM

Stories that move you

In keeping with the spirit of Partition of 1947, we have compiled a list of stories that deal with movements and migrations,
16 August 2023, 18:00 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

The bitter-sweet world of self-help books

The concept of self-improvement is by no means a new one, rather the notion is in the foundational structures of moral well-being. The centuries old Socrates commandment, “Know Thyself” is at the very crux of what self-improvement consists of.
1 August 2023, 14:55 PM

Acquaintance

I found a gold pendant which I decided to keep. I wore it around my neck and looked in the mirror. Did my mother ever wear this pendant?
30 July 2023, 14:55 PM

Intrusive

Memories melting together, shattering to shreds
27 July 2023, 09:50 AM

Leafhopper under the vast purple sky

In that world, ignorance amassed like water near the roots of a cypress tree.
27 July 2023, 09:43 AM

All characters are fictitious

Suddenly, a giant shadow covered up the ground beneath their feet. When she looked up, she couldn’t see the face of the figure until it came closer and sat on the edge of the branch they were sitting on.
25 July 2023, 12:55 PM

For a better future

Sentiments are best preserved for people who can pay for extra baggage.
24 July 2023, 14:55 PM

Them two dogs

I am asked where I am headed. The expression in the lady’s eyes suggests this is not the first time I was asked the question. I stand there, wondering if the pits around her eyes—white as the sun—are caused by the likes of me, and I tell her where I’m headed.
21 July 2023, 18:00 PM

Of losses and languages: reviewing Han Kang’s 'Greek Lessons'

There is a sense of inexorable catharsis, and dare I say— spirituality—when the protagonists begin their journey into one another since they alone embody the ideas and predicaments of the text. 
21 July 2023, 09:00 AM

Have you met the ‘Ghost of Fire’?

Given the background of the main characters, Bhooter Agun has a diverse narrative and depicts a world of diverging cultures, traditions, customs, and practices.
18 July 2023, 12:55 PM

Exploring the transformative power of fanfiction

While the term "fanfiction" may not have existed, the practice certainly did. Fanfiction has been argued to have influenced significant literary works such as the Homeric epics, Shakespeare's plays, and even Miguel Cervantes' Don Quixote.
17 July 2023, 15:29 PM