On a Long-Awaited Critical Anthology of Bangladeshi Literature in English
For anyone with academic or amateurish interest in Bangladeshi writings in English this must be a long-awaited book. The publication of Mohammad A Quayum and Md. Mahmudul Hasan–edited Bangladeshi...
Pandemic Musings Anthropocene: climate change, contagion, consolation
Sudeep Sen’s Anthropocene is the third work on the subject by an Indian writer that I have come across in recent years, but it is truly sui generis.
Brandon Taylor’s ‘Real Life’—It’s seldom fair.
Brandon Taylor’s Real Life (Riverhead Books, 2020) begins with the protagonist, Wallace, contemplating his father’s death and feeling lonely amongst his friends because they do not understand the...
Revisiting 'The Bell Jar': a feminist masterpiece that reverberates through time
Vivid imagery and symbolism of deep human emotion are found throughout Plath’s novel, as the readers are allowed a look into the mind of a 19-year-old girl who is trapped in the kind of society...
In "Taxi Wallah", Numair Atif Chowdhury takes us, once more, through the cartography of a homeland
The version of Bangladesh we received in Babu Bangladesh (2019) was astonishing.
Matthew Salesses demystifies the craft of writing
Storytelling is a space in which, as writers and readers, we experience the ways of how we know the world and interact with it.
Tanveer Anoy explores gender roles and identities in his second novel, ‘Duradhay’
Tanveer Anoy’s second novel, Duradhay (Anandam, 2021), felt like a punch to my stomach; a wake up call, to be more precise.
Abdulrazak Gurnahs 'Afterlives': The repercussions of colonialism, unveiled
Abdulrazak Gurnah, this year’s Nobel laureate in literature, seems to come as an admirable choice compared to the Nobel Prize’s controversial recent history.
The need to be fierce: In "Sweetness", Toni Morrison allows a mother to explain her actions
Anyone familiar with Toni Morrison’s work would know about the gutting picture of slavery and racism that she painted with her stories.
Shelley Parker-Chan’s 'She Who Became The Sun': A song of identity and fate
Identity is mercurial: it shifts and morphs into a new being at the change of a breeze. That change is glacial, and often happens on its own volition; but one can also grasp a new identity, hold it...