The sky to the west and overhead is mired in darkness; but to the east, light is gleaming out like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.

This year’s submissions included the first ever stories from Togo and Gabon, the newest members of the Commonwealth.

The pleasing melancholia of Friday morning hovers through the window as a heavy gloom and sways within the fake plastic daisies lying on Marium’s table while the smell of burning spices filled her entire house. Marium’s mother couldn’t care less about the condition of the kitchen now. Her husband has just collapsed to the floor.  

It began with a faint sound of walls being scratched. Initially, the man believed it to be the normal sounds of an old home settling during the middle of the night.

It is important to set unconventional examples at the time that they are written; Tagore’s work did this.

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

As the rush to get home for Eid builds up, six lives in Dhaka city collide.

“Deficiency Notice” presents the daily life of an 11-year-old boy who is speech-impaired

I spent the whole day running on the roads near Ramna park. Riding a bicycle alone through the narrow alleys of Mohammadpur without the fear of anyone jumping out at me from the corners.

"The first book I had published comprised a short story. My second book of short stories came out 14 years after that", the writer said.

A daughter reflects on time and Bengali culture as she revels in the excitement of cooking her parents a meal.

Chughtai spoke about taboo topics such as homosexuality, abortion, female desire, and their rights and independence.

“Extra ghugni, no chilis,” he confirmed, his cyber-enhanced eyes ever judging.

She wakes up suddenly from her unnatural beeline posture, slowly and ever so gently, like a chained demon would after just hours of calculated slumber. I never look.

It was a time in the night where one can’t really tell if it’s night or eve. The sun is still sleeping in and it’s unlikely that it has any other plans anytime soon. Nothing but silence cloaks the wood and it is the time for the chatter of the owls and bats.

Once upon a time, in a small village nestled in the mountains of Afghanistan, there lived a little girl named Lila. She was a curious and adventurous child, always eager to explore the world around her. But there was one thing that Lila loved more than anything else, and that was winter.

Rahman emerged from his grave in the middle of the night. His return from the dead took place in no more than 10 days after his passing away.

Someone has to pay the price when traditions, community beliefs, and environmental issues are unheeded. 

December 24 had always been one of the most awaited days of the year for us. The grand birthday cake for Jesus' birthday, the roasted sausages and meatloaves, and finally, a house-favourite, narrating the story of the Three Wise Men–that is how I had spent Christmas Eve for as long as I could remember.

Be it for their nostalgic pull or the promise of escaping into a rich, evocative world, these tales have been consistent go-to’s for me over the years.