book review
BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / Navigating Dhaka’s urban labyrinth
A review of ‘Spatial Justice, Contested Governance And Livelihood Challenges In Bangladesh’ (Routledge, 2024) by Lutfun Nahar Lata
BOOK REVIEW: POETRY / Balancing the act of oneness and being one with oneself
Kiriti Sengupta is an award-winning poet, translator, editor, and publisher based in New Delhi, India. Oneness is his latest collection of poems. The seemingly unassuming thin volume does not prepare readers for the multi-sensory experience that is in store for them as they open the book. Even before one’s mind and eyes get used to reading, the poet jolts readers as he writes “I rived my eyes / for inditing poems. / Would you reckon them / by their length?”
BOOK REVIEW : FICTION / Riding the early years of motherhood through ‘Soldier Sailor’
While reading it, one might feel that they are reading a mother’s confessions while she takes care of her son.
BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / 'Thrice born': The journey of Bangladeshi literature in English
Bangladeshi Literature in English: Critical Essays and Interviews, edited by Mohammad A. Quayum and Md. Mahmudul Hasan, focuses on critical essays on Bangladeshi literature in English—both from Bangladesh and its diasporas (US, UK, and Australia).
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / Sufism and the emergence of Bengal’s syncretic culture
Review of ‘Needle at the Bottom of the Sea: Bengali Tales from the Land of the Eighteen Tides’ (University of California Press, 2023) translated by Tony K. Stewart
BOOK REVIEW: POETRY / Selected poems of Shamim Reza: An overview
Review of 'Shamim Reza: Selected Poems' (ULAB Press, 2023)
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / A “knockout” debut from Rita Bullwinkel
The eight girls in Headshot clearly hope to escape the chaos of their lives in the ring.
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / 'Prophet Song': Full of sound, fury, and significance
The 309-page-long dystopian novel is an oppressive account of Eilish who tries to keep her family from falling apart as everything around her crumbles.
BOOK REVIEW: TEXTBOOK / It’s all crimson inside ‘Shahittopath’
“Mr Nurul Amin couldn’t realise what bureaucracy had dragged him down to”. Remember how you needed to absolutely memorise this line with context and underlying meaning for answering comprehension-based questions? Well, that was to earn a couple of marks in exams. Turns out, it is also a 101 guide on how to earn a nation back.
Navigating Dhaka’s urban labyrinth
A review of ‘Spatial Justice, Contested Governance And Livelihood Challenges In Bangladesh’ (Routledge, 2024) by Lutfun Nahar Lata
Balancing the act of oneness and being one with oneself
Kiriti Sengupta is an award-winning poet, translator, editor, and publisher based in New Delhi, India. Oneness is his latest collection of poems. The seemingly unassuming thin volume does not prepare readers for the multi-sensory experience that is in store for them as they open the book. Even before one’s mind and eyes get used to reading, the poet jolts readers as he writes “I rived my eyes / for inditing poems. / Would you reckon them / by their length?”
Riding the early years of motherhood through ‘Soldier Sailor’
While reading it, one might feel that they are reading a mother’s confessions while she takes care of her son.
'Thrice born': The journey of Bangladeshi literature in English
Bangladeshi Literature in English: Critical Essays and Interviews, edited by Mohammad A. Quayum and Md. Mahmudul Hasan, focuses on critical essays on Bangladeshi literature in English—both from Bangladesh and its diasporas (US, UK, and Australia).
Sufism and the emergence of Bengal’s syncretic culture
Review of ‘Needle at the Bottom of the Sea: Bengali Tales from the Land of the Eighteen Tides’ (University of California Press, 2023) translated by Tony K. Stewart
Selected poems of Shamim Reza: An overview
Review of 'Shamim Reza: Selected Poems' (ULAB Press, 2023)
A “knockout” debut from Rita Bullwinkel
The eight girls in Headshot clearly hope to escape the chaos of their lives in the ring.
'Prophet Song': Full of sound, fury, and significance
The 309-page-long dystopian novel is an oppressive account of Eilish who tries to keep her family from falling apart as everything around her crumbles.
It’s all crimson inside ‘Shahittopath’
“Mr Nurul Amin couldn’t realise what bureaucracy had dragged him down to”. Remember how you needed to absolutely memorise this line with context and underlying meaning for answering comprehension-based questions? Well, that was to earn a couple of marks in exams. Turns out, it is also a 101 guide on how to earn a nation back.
Witnessing the Turkish century
In the post-9/11 world, no country’s name has been evoked more than Turkey’s (or its newly rebranded name of Türkiye) in public discussions by foreign policy pundits and politicians alike, to demonstrate the harmonious symbiosis of the East and West, Islam and secularism, and tradition and modernity.