NEWS REPORT / Gibran, illustrated: Zeina Abirached’s take on ‘The Prophet’
Particularly striking is her choice of working only in black and white, letting both the poetry and her art speak for themselves in their rawest forms.
28 September 2025, 13:45 PM
NEWS REPORT / Mother, memory, and defiance: Inside Arundhati Roy’s new memoir
The memoir situates Roy’s personal story alongside her public life as an outspoken critic of state power, globalisation, and inequality.
31 August 2025, 12:30 PM
EVENT REPORT / EWU hosts ‘7th Nahreen Khan Memorial Lecture’ with Dr Niaz Zaman
She discussed the increasing recognition of translated literature, as evidenced by prestigious awards such as the International Booker Prize and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize
17 July 2025, 12:33 PM
INTERVIEW / Embracing the bizarre and ‘An Eye and a Leg’
The Asia regional winner of the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Faria Basher, in an interview with The Daily Star, opens up about her journey from lifelong reader to emerging writer.
4 June 2025, 18:00 PM
NEWS REPORT / Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, renowned Kenyan author and literary icon, dies at 87
The revolutionary novelist, playwright, and fierce advocate, passed away on May 28 in Bedford, Georgia
29 May 2025, 16:36 PM
Faria Basher named Asia Regional Winner of Commonwealth Short Story Prize
She is the first writer of Bangladeshi origin to win the regional prize
14 May 2025, 10:46 AM
NEWS REPORT / ‘Let it be a tale’: Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha wins Pulitzer Prize
Other Pulitzer Prize winners in the arts included Percival Everett in the Fiction category for his novel 'James', Branden Jacobs-Jenkins in the Drama category for his play 'Purpose', and Marie Howe in the Poetry category for her collection, 'New and Selected Poems'
6 May 2025, 16:00 PM
NEWS / Bangladeshi writer Faria Basher shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2025
“An Eye and a Leg” has been described as "a darkly humorous and surreal take on the trope of the ‘expiring’ South Asian woman"
15 April 2025, 15:00 PM
UPL organises Book Talk highlighting the essence of Bengali poets writing in English
In this discussion, a throughline was drawn from the early 20th century to the early 21st.
24 December 2023, 14:00 PM
An evening of spooks and screams
Each submission, whether poem or prose, was limited to 250 words, and the first team to complete all the prompts would be crowned the winning house.
8 November 2023, 15:55 PM
Poet Asad Chowdhury no more
With the publication of his first collection of poems, Tabak Deya Paan in 1975, Bangla literary scene witnessed the emergence of a powerful new voice.
5 October 2023, 13:55 PM
Book-Buzz back with its second iteration
Ushinor Majumdar’s book details how, since Partition, the Pakistan military junta had continued to exert unjust power over Bengal and its resident Bengalis.
2 October 2023, 14:00 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
Applications for the next session of Write Beyond Borders are now open
The lineup of mentors includes a range of writers from South Asia, currently based in and publishing from all over the globe.
19 August 2023, 12:12 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
'Small World City': A new speculative literary magazine on the horizon
The creators of Small World City believe that Dhaka’s literary community deserves better recognition and representation, both domestically and globally.
26 July 2023, 14:42 PM
ULAB Creative Writing Certificate Course returns
This year’s sessions will be facilitated by eminent academics, writers, and professionals in their field, such as Professor Kaiser Haq, Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam, Professor Azfar Hussain, Professor Shamsad Mortuza, Arifa Ghani Rahman, and Maisha Hossain.
12 July 2023, 12:50 PM
A day of festivities to celebrate 19 years of Baatighar
Baatighar has organised an evening of music and discussion at its Dhaka outlet on June 18, 2023, from 6 PM onwards.
18 June 2023, 10:44 AM
Can we process trauma through writing?
Iffat Nawaz, together with The Daily Star’s Books & Literary Editor, Sarah Anjum Bari, will discuss the act and impact of processing traumatic memories through writing.
15 June 2023, 10:55 AM
Himal Fiction Fest to showcase the next era of South Asian storytelling
Over the two-week period, six original short stories by emerging South Asian writers will be published on Himal Southasia’s website
11 June 2023, 13:00 PM
Shantona Shantuma: A pioneering manga artist duo in Bangladesh
The ambition was to popularise Bangladeshi manga. At first the initiative was voluntary but later they succeeded to commercialise the publication.
7 June 2023, 13:00 PM
UPL Summer Book Fair 2023 underway
Some of UPL’s best selling titles include 'Political Parties in India' (2022) by Abdul Razzaq and a Bangla translation of Yuval Noah Harari’s 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind' (2014).
4 June 2023, 15:00 PM
Random House Canada accepting open submissions from underrepresented writers
Following submission, the editorial team will respond to writers they are interested within six months.
1 June 2023, 13:00 PM
A Rajshahi University scholar who has helped little magazines thrive
Four little magazines have been published under his editorship.
1 June 2023, 08:22 AM
Bengal Institute to hold nonfiction writing workshop
Participants at the workshop will be introduced to a variety of texts and materials on these topics. It will focus on writing as both craft and concept, how to think about them to write about them.
30 May 2023, 13:05 PM
Commonwealth Short Story Prize ’23 regional winners announced
This year’s submissions included the first ever stories from Togo and Gabon, the newest members of the Commonwealth.
29 May 2023, 14:54 PM
‘Time Shelter’ the first Bulgarian novel to win International Booker Prize
"The book is a profound work that deals with a very contemporary question: What happens to us when our memories disappear?", said judge Leila Slimani.
24 May 2023, 07:50 AM