In Speak, Silence: In Search of W.G. Sebald (Bloomsbury, 2021), you write that the author’s British publisher, Christopher MacLehose, was in a dilemma to decide on Sebald’s genre of writing. After writing about his novel and his life for so long, how would you define Sebald’s genre?

What makes them my favourites, if I can’t remember the names of the engrossing characters or the details of the intricate plots in some of my “favourite” books?

Selvadurai’s book, set against the backdrop of escalating political tension in Sri Lanka prior to the 1983 riots, portrays the effect of the Tamil-Sinhalese clash on the personal lives of his characters, before giving a glimpse of the riots in the very last chapter.

Each hardcover spine contains the story of how Nora’s life would have turned out if she had chosen differently—if she had picked a different career path, moved to a different country or married a different person.

Tongues and Bellies, published by Linen Press (2021), is described by its blurb as an anthology where “sensual and surprising stories play a tantalising game of hide and seek with lies and truth”.

Ranjana Biswas, an essayist and researcher, received the award at a ceremony held on March 22 at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Dhaka. 

Complexity in any area of law leads to specialization. But it also comes with the risk of tunnel vision, of failing to visualize the bigger picture.

We get to know only so much about what happens around us until literature takes an interest in it. The same would have happened with the shutdown of the jute mill in Khulna, nearly two decades ago, if a novel like Kalchakra (Annesha Prokashon, 2018) had not presented it to us.

Can there be decisive action without discourse, even if it takes the form of one or two conversations between friends in a work of fiction?

The Story of A Brief Marriage (2016) focuses on portraying the intricacies of alienation and uncertainty through the story of Dinesh, who has survived  the Sri Lankan civil war. 

Cousins Faiza Shabnam and Bibha Habiba Haque, students of Class 4 in Dhaka’s Scholastica school, have written a novella about three space travelling teenagers. 

People often struggle to express themselves in the era of digitisation. It is a time when we are convicted by censorship, causing the decay of emotion and the loss of the ability to stand out against oppression. Humans, as a result, struggle to survive meaningfully.

Each book in this list features strong, fearless, bold, multi-faceted, creative, inspiring, vulnerable, witty, and most importantly, real women from all walks of life.

When a character from history becomes a significant figure in the state, it is difficult for a researcher or writer to write about them. They have to tread very carefully while composing a book with unknown, yet important, collected information.

Held on March 4-5 at the Gulshan Lake Park in its second iteration since 2019, the fair included stalls by several bookstores and publishers including Bookworm Bangladesh, Bengal Boi, University Press Limited, Baatighar, ULAB Press, Bishwa Shahittya Kendro, and more. 

For Ekushey Boi Mela taking place in Dhaka, Bidyanondo are encouraging readers and visitors to get vaccinated with the slogan, “Dui Dose Tika Nile, Melay Boi Free te Mile”.

In 2021, Polygon, an Edinburgh-based publisher, launched the Darkland Tales, a series of “dramatic fictional retellings of stories from history, myth and legend” written by Scotland’s greatest contemporary writers. Denise Mina’s novella Rizzio is the first in the series.

Academic and author Manizey Ibrahim Rahman unveiled the cover of her debut novel Aries: The Beginning (2022) with a book-themed scavenger hunt held at Bookworm Bangladesh on February 25, Friday.

Sanderson has written five “accidental” books between 2020 and 2022, four of which will be published as full-fledged novels in 2023. 

IFIC Bank and Kali O Kolom jointly hosted the annual ‘Torun Kobi O Lekhok’ Awards at 7 pm on Saturday, February 26, in an online telecast. The ceremony was aired simultaneously from IFIC and Kali O Kolom’s Facebook pages.