Translation

The bitter relationship between English version students and board exams

English version questions in board exams often contain errors since the translators are grossly underskilled.
8 September 2022, 00:00 AM

In the aftermath of the Palestinian catastrophe—'Minor Detail' by Adania Shibli (trans. Elisabeth Jaquette)

This book is an essential read to understand the extent of the erasure of Palestinian history after the Nakba and life under tyranny in its cities.
7 September 2022, 18:00 PM

Geetanjali Shree's 'Tomb of Sand': A woman and her many borders

There is a plot embedded here, but this novel is so much more: a long, winding journey, centred on a family, with acute eyes on love and distances within a family, but also through language, Partition and imposed borders, and so much more.
17 August 2022, 18:00 PM

2023 International Booker Prize judges announced

Chairing next year’s judges’ panel will be Leïla Slimani, the French Moroccan novelist known for books like Lullaby (2016) and Adèle (2019).
17 August 2022, 14:40 PM

Mashiul Alam joins prestigious Iowa International Writing Program

Journalist and author Mashiul Alam has been selected as a resident of the 2022 Iowa International Writing Program (IWP), among the world’s most prestigious creative writing residencies.
16 August 2022, 14:21 PM

Niaz Zaman's 'An Ekushey Anthology': Reminiscing Ekushey, 70 years on

Zaman has classified the pieces in two groups: "the early stories focus on the events that took place on 21 February—the processions, the police action and the deaths—while the later ones show how the attitude to Bangla has changed in these 70 years.
10 August 2022, 18:00 PM

DhakaYeah designs book cover for HarperCollins India

The novel, first published in Bangla as Narach, is set in late 19th century colonial Bengal. 
5 August 2022, 06:56 AM

Mundanities, magic realism, Bangladesh—Shahidul Zahir’s novellas

The personal space is the same as the political sphere, the individual on the same strand as the collective. 
27 July 2022, 18:00 PM

July’s ULAB Literary Salon discusses Bangladeshi short story anthologies

An engaging discussion on translations unfolded at the event.
26 July 2022, 07:48 AM

Five of BTS leader RM’s favourite books

RM, leader of the popular K-pop band BTS, is not only a musician but also an avid reader.
13 July 2022, 11:42 AM

You are what you eat in Mashiul Alam's "The Meat Market" (trans. Shabnam Nadiya)

It is a story of discomfort. Of calm, ruthless violence. A drag-your-hands-down-to-uncover-your-eyes gaze at the oblivion we practice not only during Eid holidays, but on any regular day in Bangladesh. 
11 July 2022, 13:21 PM

Brecht’s poetry presented in delicious Bangla

“The process of translation is a rigorous delight. But the product? As a translator, you also always carry with you an anxious awareness of the ways in which you have fallen short. You have seen it, that, at least, you hope; but you have failed to carry it over.” - Tom Kuhn.
6 July 2022, 18:00 PM

If that Emblem was Attained

Ekti Potaka Pele is a well-known poem by Helal Hafiz. It has been newly translated by Vincent Dip Gomes.
14 June 2022, 08:05 AM

Geetanjali Shree's Partition novel 'Tomb of Sand' wins International Booker Prize 2022

Indian writer Geetanjali Shree became the first author from the country to win the International Booker Prize for her Hindi novel set in the aftermath of the 1947 Partition of the Indian subcontinent.
27 May 2022, 10:35 AM

Diversity and nuance mark the Bangladeshi experience in Sohana Manzoor's 'Our Many Longings: Contemporary Short Fiction From Bangladesh'

So many words have been used to describe this nation in the last 50 years. Started from a bottomless basket, and along the way we’ve been called resilient, passionate, corrupt, greedy, full of warmth.
22 December 2021, 18:00 PM

Han Kang's 'The Vegetarian': Surrealism and suffering in South Korea

Han Kang’s atmospheric novel, The Vegetarian (Portobello, 2016), is an evocative look at the psychosis of a woman plagued by her own humanity. In a masterstroke,
24 November 2021, 18:00 PM

Ujan hosts award-giving ceremony for book review contest on Korean Literature

Bangladeshi publishing house Ujan Prokashan organised a book review contest where participants had to review Korean Literature on Monday, November 8.
13 November 2021, 08:59 AM

Ujan Book Review Contest 2021 announces winners, reviews Korean literature in translation

Participants reviewed Bangla translations of two significant works of Korean literature—Korear Kobita (Korean Poetry) translated by Chhanda Mahbub, and Korear Golpo (Short Stories of Korea), edited by Soroishwarja Muhommod. Both translations were published by Ujan Prakashan and assisted by the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, who also helped organise the contest. 
19 October 2021, 09:05 AM

JCB Prize for Literature announces 2021 longlist

The annual competition, which has been hailed as “India's most valuable literature prize”, offers INR 2,500,000 (USD 35,000) to its winner for distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer working in or translated to English.
8 September 2021, 07:28 AM

In ‘Toward Happy Civilization’, a portrait of desperation

Typical of any Samanta Schweblin story from her International Booker-longlisted collection, Mouthful of Birds (OneWorld, 2019), a sense of anxiety is strongly perceptible here, especially through the characters Fi and Pe. One grows afraid of them as they start showing both lovingly caring and Big Brother-like tendencies. What heightens the ominous halo surrounding these two is the hostages’ inability to translate their emotions; why would someone who provides for you not give you a way out?
31 August 2021, 15:03 PM