"All literature is regional; or conversely, no literature is regional"—is a common sentiment to have today, but I had first read those lines from Joyce Carol Oates, in her preface to a book of stories by one of Canada's most gifted storytellers, Alistair MacLeod. In MacLeod's short stories, his Cape Breton Island was a refrain through which the momentous lives of his ordinary characters came through. I vividly remember how I wept after reading the short story "The Boat" and each time I went back to it, I knew how special this place had to be, beyond the familiarity of the city and amidst desires borne out of relative insignificance.

It is due to the urge that we must give our due to the poetry and prose written outside the capital, for literature thrives beyond the centre too, that I had decided to highlight the following books. I had found something of that fervour that is missing in the works of writers based here in Dhaka.

Uthollo

Sadia Sultana

Oitijjhya, 2025

Sadia Sultana's seventh novel Uthollo is perhaps one of the most underrated novels to be published this year. "Uthollo" refers to the peripatetic and the nomadic, and in Sultana's novel they are the biharis, the stranded Pakistanis, who must make a living in a land increasingly hostile towards them. The characters in Uthollo are all too real. Sultana mentions her countless moments of research, navigating through the camps in Saidpur, Rangpur, and unable to document the stories conventionally, opting finally to novelise these lives. A judge by profession and based in Dinajpur, Sultana's knack for striking prose is worth a read, especially in this novel. 

Gupto Gaan

Shekhar Dev

Shakh, 2025

Shekhar Dev is a prominent poet based in the port city. In his latest book of poems, Gupto Gaan, he takes on the beginnings of the Mahabharata—a skillful tribute that does not resort to banal devotion. The poet, an adept translator and novelist as well, manages to blend faith and desire with considerable ease. As he narrates the events of an epic, contemporary anxieties creep in, so does the fear of failure and succumbing to petty, material comforts. One set of verses end with, "Adventures of the instinct is half-hearted…at times, failure itself proves impossible", cautioning for more level-headedness during trying times. Another poem talks about the religion of "survival" and how "[w]ithout self-knowledge, how can one live?" Gupto Gaan is a short, yet notable book that illustrates the power of poetry and an interesting, modern take of a universal tale.

Sonar Khatai Chorano Jibon

Mamun Rashid

Behula Bangla, 2024

Mamun Rashid, a poet and journalist, brings to his prose a liveliness seeped in the appreciation of the past. Sonar Khatai Chorano Jibon is a series of sketches of the poet's life. In it one finds Rashid candidly discussing his writerly life, his dismal performances in school, and of lost friendships. One brief yet longing chapter begins with  lyrics to a forgotten song: "Bidesh giye bondhu tumi amay bhuilo na/chithi dio, potro dio, janayo thikana", followed by accounts of drifting friendships in Bogra. Mamun Rashid's prose, much like his poetry, has the tendency to move the reader through the simplest of words.

Janmandho Ghora

Bango Rakhal

Anupranan Prokashon, 2023

The young poet Bango Rakhal (from Jhenaidah who runs a library in his village on weekends) first came to my attention through an anthology of writing about Pagla Kanai—the Bangali mystic and folk singer—which he had edited. Over the years, he had written a lot of poetry, heavily influenced by folk traditions of Bangladesh. Indeed, in Janmandho Ghora, we see the poet at his strongest, with verses that try to emulate the devotional and hypnotic aspects of baul. "The body is merely a casting, a quest till death/A poem is a soul—and the soul is poetry", he says. In poems like "Khuda" (hunger), he talks of the incursive blindness of a society full of individuals and their unfulfilled desires. "Everyday I go to the Shopping Mall, dreaming like Aladdin/I see storms…Now only a little food is needed." While Rakhal has come out recently with more books of essays, it is this collection of poems which readers might find more suitable to enjoy.

Shahriar Shaams has written for The Business Standard, Dhaka Tribune, and The Daily Star. Find him on instagram @shahriar.shaams.