A sacrifice

When he was handing over the money to Naimuddin, their father, Kalam silently cried, holding Dholi’s neck in the yard.
7 June 2025, 08:45 AM

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

Books for different types of readers on Eid

Eid-ul-Azha is right around the corner, which entails delicious meals, family gatherings, and a little extra downtime between all the Qurbani preparation and feasting.
4 June 2025, 18:00 PM

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I cannot tell you that I want to be intoxicated, inebriated, and stashed away for the rest of eternity while holding your hand at the mediocre fair in the middle of the crowd of ill-mannered school-children who grew up too soon
30 May 2025, 18:11 PM

An evening at Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay and Dhaka Sessions

In one of their most recent episodes, Dhaka Sessions featured three young artists from Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay to perform in the intimate and literary, lush space of Bookworm Bangladesh
30 May 2025, 18:10 PM

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

A kaleidoscopic collection of stories by an outsider

Storytelling is not easy, especially when a few words portray a character with depth and just enough strokes to etch the social milieu for certain classes and creeds and the outcomes of political ideologies in post-independent Bangladesh.
28 May 2025, 18:00 PM

Of women, rage, and what burns unseen

These stories subtly highlight how even within patriarchal structures, men, too, are shaped, sometimes twisted by the systems they benefit from.
28 May 2025, 18:00 PM

Vivisection of a cat

When Ullash decided to choose the cat for one of his experiments, our borobhabi, Ullash's mother, didn't raise a single objection
23 May 2025, 18:36 PM

The companion

It said, 'You've brought a return ticket with you friend / Remember, people are not meant to be held onto.'
23 May 2025, 18:14 PM

Three Songs: Kazi Nazrul Islam

The mind craves to fly far away. / In the guise of a beggar, eyes wet with tears
23 May 2025, 18:14 PM

‘Human translation will continue, despite machines’: An interview with V. Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy shares insights on his upcoming projects and, among other things, thoughts on whether AI could ever be a serious translator
21 May 2025, 18:00 PM

Betwixt and between: Tales from a Nepali-Indian girlhood

Ravindra's prose is brisk, smooth, and detailed, with numerous stories from traditional Nepali and Hindu folklore chipped in, adding layers as the story unfolds.
21 May 2025, 18:00 PM

Indian author wins International Booker for story collection

The 77-year-old is the first author of Kannada-language literature to receive the prestigious literary award for translated fiction
21 May 2025, 02:27 AM

The moon is a cheeseball and we are effervescent

The moon is a cheeseball,  Cratered, yellow, and huge like your eyeballs 
16 May 2025, 19:18 PM

Wash your fruits

I rush to the mirror. My gums are pristine, no wound, no sin. But when I look back at the fruit, the truth reveals itself: the flesh is blackened, writhing with tiny, hungry mouths. The rot has teeth
16 May 2025, 19:18 PM

déjà vu

Moving mindlessly and / Etching every alley along the way / With verses devoted to you
16 May 2025, 18:19 PM

The importance of being imperfect

Now, an automated metro-rail glides silently through the city. Conversations have become clipped, calculated. Efficiency replaces spontaneity. They call it peace. Rahim calls it absence.
16 May 2025, 18:18 PM

Sister Library reads Sehri Tales: An evening of ‘Pink’ and ‘Digital’

The event commenced with a promise of memorable tales about memory, femininity, modernity, identity, and more
15 May 2025, 15:30 PM

5 books my 5-year-old can’t get enough of

In a world where smart TVs, touchscreen tablets, and mobiles are always within reach, I feel grateful that my daughter, who is almost five and a half, often brings me books and asks me to read them to her for a quick, fun storytime.
14 May 2025, 18:00 PM