Literature

Ghalib ki Dilli (Part I)

I should have been listening to one of the scores of imaginative...
OF WEDDING GIFTS

After a month's respite, with the inauspicious Pous being over...
Poetry

You, who are

My Life with Shakespeare

When you are asked to write a memoir or something about Shakespeare...
The Endless I

Within the givens of life
BIDDING ADIEU TO RADA

The terrible realization was setting in almost all, if not all of...

Prodigy

The smell of spicy food was making Sam hungry. After a long wait at...
Baishakhi Spirit, which art Moving Everywhere

My phone is bombarded with SMS alerts notifying me of various deals...
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: KUTCH

Imagine Bengal like this: all the rivers have dried up....

Tagore Songs

With him, “no” will never do.
Alpanas: “Dreams under your feet”

If you ask me, it is not unlikely that alpana and kalpana should...
In Search of a Hero

“If I were a hero …” Arif stopped suddenly.

Jibanananda Das: Baitarani

I'm not sure when I rose from the grave of death—
A Brief History of Pahela Baishakh

Most of us know that the celebrations of Pahela Baishakh began in...
Poetry

Some days I come knocking at your door

EXAMINATION WOES

With the examination season on, people feel pity for the stressed...
Poetry

It doesn't want a handful of puffed rice
Skull among Bricks− a Grey Frame

Right now, I am all blue. I was supposed to have my feet on the...

Snippets

Her: Seen yesterday's sunset?
I Can Choose to Go, But Why Should I?

Perhaps, it is better to turn around.
The Days of War

On March 1 at 1.00 pm when Yahya Khan declared on the radio that he...

Pity

From behind a counter inside Tasty, her brother Anik's bakery...
The Death of Sorrow

Azgar Ali was not worried when the war broke out. Theirs was a...
Ferdousi Priyabhashini: “A Lifelong Impression of Eternal Struggle”

The indescribable grief and agony the aftermath of 1971 had set off...

MY USELESS WEAPON

As Bird flocks take wing at the rattle of sten guns
Bangladesh During those Turbulent Days of March, 1971

The historic announcement of March 7 by Bangabandhu was, in fact, the call for the independence of Bangladesh. The speech inspired
Folk Hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

The process through which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-1975) became a folk hero in Bangladesh, that is to say, the way in which his
Footprints of Million Lives

Darkness had fallen upon the graveyard of thousand lives, along with a cold breeze which swept away the rotten stench of dead flesh.
LOVE IN THE TIME OF TINDER

“Are you interested in spiritually inclined younger men?” My recent tinder match asked.
Five Hours in Frankfurt

Living in Germany made it possible for me to pamper two of my deadliest indulgences: my addiction to chocolate and travelling.
Fairy Tales

“Up there he floats,
ICONS, AUTOGRAPH HUNTING AND SAVVY ACTRESS-IN-TRAINING

I was never an autograph hunter. Never felt the urge, or the thrill, or the bragging right, or any of the rapid heart-thumping emotions
A Life Truly Worth Living

Say this, don't say that.
LOVE THE ENDURING KIND

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
Musing Lightly on the Issues of Translation

Recently, I have come across a significant number of Bangladeshi online journals, diligently invested in literatures in
BANERJEE VS. CHATTERJEE 1945

I know of Capt. Banerjee, Military Observer, only because he wrote feature articles for the Times of Saigon, edited by my father,
Enduring Life

racing ahead
Postmortem of My Skin

Pasty green doesn't suit you. White makes you look darker. Why would you even dare to wear black? That's forbidden. Don't even think
Poetry

If we eventually are
Refugees in the Public Imagination: The Conference that brought out Gripping Tales of (Dis)location and (Dis)placement

Refugee, migration and relocation have played prominent roles in literature and public spheres alike. In recent times for Bangladesh, it
Remembering Professor Ahsanul Haque

We loved and respected Professor Ahsanul Haque as a teacher. He taught us in the Department of English, University of Dhaka, in the
From Ekushey to International Mother Language Day and Beyond

Like every landmark day of every other country, Bangladesh's Ekushey February, or the 21st of February, 1952, has its roots decades
Marginality, Borders and Existential Refugee-hood in the Chhitmahal

At this moment, when thousands of Rohingya refugees are sheltering in Bangladesh, the word 'refugee' gains new significance in the
Ekushey Padak

The Daily Star Literature team heartily congratulates Syed Manzoorul Islam, Saiful Islam Khan (poet Hayat Saef), Subrata Barua, Robiul Hussain and Khalekdad Chowdhury (posthumous), who have been awarded the Ekushey Padak 2018 for their contribution in language and literature.
A Little Bird

It was beginning to get a little warmer. The sun came up early in the morning. The buds were sprouting from the bare branches of the trees in the backyard.
Newspapers at the Breakfast Table

With the gathering helpless compulsive rage
They Also Were Involved

The subtitle of the book proposes it all: fourteen writers reminisce about their own, or their dear ones' experiences immediately prior to, or during, or at the end of the Liberation War of Bangladesh.
Prof. Rafiqul Islam: A Witness to the Language Movement and the Liberation of Bangladesh

He did not look at me once. Or even if he did, I doubt he saw me. His eyes were engrossed in deep thought; to me he seemed to be dipping in the deep waters of memory. Bent with age, he sat at his desk.
Companions

They sit on the veranda every afternoon; an old man and an old woman. The man is in his seventies with white hair thinning in the
The Old City

Here are the steps leading down to the lake
Caricature

Caricature boys
Whirlpool of Our Stories

And I come here to take your hand,
All about Love

“So, Monsieur! What are you going to sing for me today? Neele neele ambar, perhaps?” she asked flaunting her azure saree. For once,
LOVE HAS NO STORY TO TELL

One evening, while standing on the veranda of their 6th floor apartment, Sonia fell—with a big thud—in love. The thud was so loud