The fluency required to write creatively in English does, to some degree, represent a level of education not available to all Bangladeshis. Ten or fifteen years ago the number of Bangladeshi writers who wrote in English could be counted on…
Dhaka has just experienced a breathless three days of celebrating literature from around the world as well as in the home front. From November 14 to November 16 literature enthusiasts and just about anyone interested in the written word were…
Eliot Weinberger is a contemporary American writer, essayist, editor and translator whose works have been published in more than 30 languages. He first gained international recognition for his translation of Nobel prize winning writer and poet Octavio Paz. A fierce…
“In the next few years we should expect to see major changes in how we think of books, publishing, marketing, reading and even writing,” with these thoughts from Diya Kar Hazra, Publisher of Bloomsbury India, began an interesting session at…
Modern Spanish literature has indeed redefined the New World. Eliot Weinberger, Mario Bellatin, David Shook, Chris Heiser have shared their experiences with the literature devotees in a couple of sessions during the Hay Festival Dhaka. Latin American literature has legends…
Humans can’t help but ask questions. The instinct to question our existence, in particular, seems to be wired in our very being. Where do we come from? Is there something else other than this concrete world that we live in?…
One of my all-time favourite literary works is a short story by James Thurber called ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.’ When I first read the story, I was captivated by Thurber’s ability to encapsulate the fantasies and daydreams of…
“The starting point is always a question,” says Florence Noiville, French author, journalist and foreign literary editor for Le Monde newspaper. We meet in the garden of the Bangla Academy at the Dhaka Hay Festival 2013 for an interview. But…
Any discussion on modern Bengali literature is not possible without referring to the works of Kazi Nazrul Islam and Rabindranath Tagore. One of the most salient features of these literary legends is their humanistic approach towards literature. Both of the…
“The struggle of Man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” The wise observations of Czech Literary legend Milan Kundera have echoed again in the Imagination Tent of the Hay Festival Dhaka, 2013 where a group of literature…
The prospect of meeting Ahdaf Soueif, an award winning Egyptian author, nominated for a Booker in 1999 for ‘A Map of Love’ and a prominent political commentator in the international media for the revolution in Egypt, is a little overwhelming.…
If you are transforming something written in one language into something analogous in another, the easiest way would be to stick a Babel Fish, the imaginary universal translator in Douglas Adam’s “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” in your ear because…
“Belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real.” With this mission statement in mind, Granta, one of the most prestigious literary magazines and…
The words playing on the screen and the debates surrounding the art form became a part of discussion on the first day of the festival, where the panelists- Amit Ashraf, and the much celebrated darling of art cinema Rahul Bose…
Your father was a poet, film producer and a hardcore communist. You must have grown up in a very different environment. Tell me about your childhood in Pakistan? And how did you start writing? My father wanted to be a…
Poetry defines the charm and beauty of literature, and when a poem is written in a local language it not only describes the spirit of the poet but it tells the story of a particular culture, location and its people.…
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists who have been agitating on the streets for the installation of a non-party caretaker government have a reason to celebrate on November 17. A court ruling unexpectedly cleared BNP senior vice-chairman Tarique Rahman, elder son…
There is probably no topic as taboo and as controversial as sex and women’s sexuality in our society. Whenever there is an open public discussion on a woman’s sexual rights, members of the moral police are quick to jump in,…
When you visit a bookstore in the UK or the US, you will find a section on women’s literature, maybe one on African-American literature and then there’s a section on ‘world literature.’ Over time, the so-called world literature has come…
In Kampala, it is again history you remember. There is the sad episode of the Israeli attack on Entebbe, of course. But more than that, it is the political story behind the pains and pleasures Uganda has spasmodically gone through…
JK Rowling may not have realised just how close Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak was to becoming a reality when she introduced it in the first book of her best-selling fictional series in 1998. Professor George Eleftheriades and PhD student Michael…
Very few leaders of Bangladesh have worked only to establish the rights of the grassroots throughout their entire lives. Maolana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani is one of them. His long political career of protest against the oppression and corruption of…
“I am such a bloody talented guy. I might go into painting or something like that. I think it’s important to work and I’m entitled to work. Some people do not want to work but I want to…
Train Accident Kills 26 Cairo, Egypt: At least 26 people were killed in Egypt when a train ploughed into a truck and a mini-bus at a railway crossing early Monday, the health ministry said. Another 28 people were injured in…
An Indian Cormorant (Pankouri) sits over a pond in Bangla Academy. The bird had just come out of the pond after diving in the water for some fish.
HELP US! I was shell-shocked after watching the news on television of picketers setting a moving bus, filled with passengers on fire. Nine passengers were grievously injured while three were in critical condition. After watching this brutality, I couldn’t hold…
“I have come here not to discuss political matters, but to seek his blessings so that I could succeed in the next polls.” HM ERSHAD Jatiya Party Chairman Told journalists after meeting with Hefazat-e Islam chief Ahmad Shafi at Hathazari…
Ronni Ahmmed’s unconventional installations have created quite a buzz in the Bangladeshi art scene. Absurdity, surrealism and satire lie at the core of his artworks. His works have been showcased in different galleries at home and abroad. ‘Cosmic Turtle…
The Spirit of Victory I found the story interesting and insightful There was a time when Bangladesh were synonymous with defeat. It is really amazing how far our cricket has come in the last decade. We have learned to win.…
Going to a literary festival is a humbling experience for journalists. While everyone else is enjoying the rare pleasure of hearing celebrated writers and poets talk about their craft, the journalists are feverishly taking down notes from sessions, hounding celebrities…
