In my creative writing classes, whether at the University of Toronto or the Hermitage Residency in Bangladesh, I emphasise that any student of fiction must first master suspense

Playing with a location that seems real but is not is a tricky line to negotiate, and writer beware: you will be attacked

I became curious as to how the experience of reading might change for someone who studied it for a living, and how the lens of a literature student might differ from that of a creative writing one

Like many veterans, I joined a creative writing MFA program because I wanted to evolve as a writer.

My love affair with spectacles has long been regarded by my mother as nothing but a symptom of my dramatic nature.

When I was born, my skin was dark, like my grandfather’s, in whose arms I discovered my first home. Relatives old and new, whose disappointment was being nursed by my parents’ fair complexions, looked from afar as my rotund cheeks melted into the sleeves of my dada’s discolored half-sleeve shirt.

As an Anglophone writer in Bangladesh, I’ve frequently faced the rather inane question of why I write in English.

Ask me not of Grief. For I have been burnt by its friendly fire with blood and bits of oozing mortal flesh spun flaky and ashen by its biting cold breath.

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.

Participants, including the show’s hosts and guests, picked up discarded pebbles, photo frames, children’s artwork, and other knick knacks—all fragile things collected and displayed by the author. 

Writing is a demanding mental activity, whether for pleasure or for a class, it should never be taken lightly.

I was losing myself gradually, and that is when I decided to seek out freelance writing.

An evening storytelling and writing around the "chimera that is memory", organized by Sister Library and Sehri Tales.

The top selections in poetry, flash fiction and artwork for Day 29 of the Sehri Tales challenge; prompt: Curtains

Sharing one’s work, whether it is through publishing the old-fashioned way, self-publishing, bringing out an ebook, or simply posting a vignette on social media, can be daunting—a bit like undressing in public.

The top selections in poetry, flash fiction and artwork for Day 24 of the Sehri Tales challenge; prompt: Song Title

The top selections in poetry, flash fiction and artwork for Day 22 of the Sehri Tales challenge; prompt: Hurt

The Instagram account for Escapril posts all 30 prompts for the month ahead of time, and the poet is only required to write by taking inspiration from said prompts

The top selections in poetry, flash fiction and artwork for Day 21 of the Sehri Tales challenge; prompt: Drinks with a Ghost

The top selections in poetry, flash fiction and artwork for Day 17 of the Sehri Tales challenge; prompt: Cow