Essay / How Tumblr folk tales are rewriting digital dread into quiet sanctuaries

17 September 2026 Essay
When it comes to digital folklore, we always think of Slenderman, the SCP Foundation’s cosmic bureaucracy, and occasionally viral creepypastas and fanfiction. We have convinced ourselves that the computer could only reflect our paranoia.

Literary Curtains / Patriarchy inversed: Reimagining Rokeya’s Ladyland in 2026

“Ladyland is not perfect,” remarks Sultana, one of the protagonists in the much awaited play, “Project Ladyland 2026”. Produced by HerStory Foundation in collaboration with the British Council and Women of the World Foundation, the play was greeted by a full house this weekend. Staged at the Bangladesh Mohila Samiti theatre, the performance made a splash on Friday, August 14.
News Report / Jamir Nazir wins 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize following AI review
3 July 2026
Set in rural Trinidad, “The Serpent in the Grove” explores themes of betrayal, survival and the resilience of a woman's will.
News Report / Kazuo Ishiguro set to return with new novel in 2027
20 June 2026
Ishiguro’s novels have, over his 40-plus-year career, ranged from historical fiction to fantasy to science fiction.

Adaptation as misrecognition: ‘Siddhartha’ between text, philosophy, and stage

There is always a subtle tension when a story migrates across cultures. Some narratives travel with the lightness of wind, reshaping themselves almost effortlessly inside new imaginations, while others arrive heavy with the weight of the worlds that first produced them.
28 November 2025

Between home and elsewhere

Some books explain immigrant life through nostalgia. Others through big dramatic events. Sharbari Ahmed does neither in <I>The Strangest of Fruit</I>. Her stories focus on the quieter things like small humiliations, awkward encounters, the private wounds people carry, and the memories they don’t
26 November 2025

An inter-cultural romance

The author of this book is the protagonist of a charming inter-cultural romance. He is one of fewer than a handful of living Westerners who fortuitously fell in love with Bengali literature and made a distinguished career of teaching it—at the University of Chicago in his case.
26 November 2025

Lessons from our literary girls: Why freedom framed as favour is no freedom at all

If the girls we read about could speak today, their voices would be both sharp and unflinching.
26 November 2025

When old patriarchies wear new faces

To understand the deep-seated relevance of this modern debate, we must embark on a journey into the heart of Sarat Chandra’s literature, where these battles first found voice.
25 November 2025

Reclaiming the unwritten: Kanika Gupta on colonialism, embodiment, and the art of remembering

Gupta shares her insights on reclaiming forgotten histories, reimagining myths, and connecting ancient narratives to contemporary ecological and social concerns.
22 November 2025

Of jasmines, departure, and desire for a déjà vu

Shell-shocked, I talked to the office staff. They all looked sad, a little perplexed too, perhaps seeing my very unusual, distressed face.
21 November 2025

Moon, memory, manifesto: A personal, lyrical essay on Atrai

These two things—the river and the train—continue to haunt and fascinate me.
21 November 2025

Contested words, painful genealogies

Buried beneath masses of mangled bodies of countless innocents slowly pulled from the shrapnel and debris, their remaining flesh torn in the extraction, lies a reflection of the world’s inhumanity.
19 November 2025

Taylor Swift talks back to Shakespeare

I first heard Taylor Swift’s song “The Fate of Ophelia” on the radio during a road trip to New Hampshire the day after it was released on October 3.
19 November 2025

The Solitude of ’69

For the Class of ’69 at Dhaka University, that bond was embodied in one man—Syed Mayeenul Huq. He wasn’t just a friend; he was the quiet, steady centre that held their entire constellation together.
19 November 2025

An incident amidst nightly escapades

“Graveyard Shift” is a highly anticipated work by M L Rio, following her success with If We Were Villains (Flatiron Books), released in 2017. Like its predecessor, the novella “Graveyard Shift” also stays in the realm of dark academia; however, the similarities between the two books end there.
18 November 2025

Ink and Tree

If every leaf that falls is a memory you’ve forgotten, then let my ink become rain— so you might remember how it felt to grow with me.
16 November 2025

Two awakenings: Reading ‘Dhorai Charita Manas’ and ‘Things Fall Apart’

My readings of the two books—the subject of this write-up—happened to be on two momentous occasions, set two decades apart in utterly contrasting ways.
14 November 2025

Kumu: Meye bela

Kumu was born five years after Peara. Five long, whisper-filled years. Peara, the third child, the first son, the long-awaited heir who arrived with the weight of joy and expectation.
14 November 2025

Growing up ordinary in a toxic work culture

Focusing on themes of systemic injustice, and resistance, Counterattack at Thirty is a captivating and timely read—perfect for anyone interested in personal narratives infused with keen social commentary. 
14 November 2025

Making of a mother: Discussing ‘IVF and Childlessness In Bangladesh’

What is motherhood, exactly? While biomedical sciences tell us one answer, the undeniable social experiences we gather throughout our lives say otherwise. What happens when technologies such as IVF (In-Vitro Fertilisation) allow women to surpass natural barriers to become mothers? Does it make women free from the constraints of motherhood, or does it reinforce them?
13 November 2025

A graphic rebellion against patriarchy

We are living in the advancing era, mended meticulously with dreams and expectations. It is the era of new norms. And yet, a woman asking for the basic human rights will be scrutinised for standing up for herself.
12 November 2025

Poetry in short-hand

The idea of outsourcing the selection of poems to a fellow poet-publisher Dustin Pickering, lends the already published poems of Kiriti Sengupta another round of robust readership.
12 November 2025

Writing about writing, history, and Palestine

In The Message, Coates details several experiences from his travels to Senegal and Palestine, his correspondences with a teacher in South Carolina fighting against a school board’s push to ban books with topics deemed controversial, and his personal takeaways from these events.
12 November 2025
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