Bangladesh: A Literary Journey Through 50 Short Stories

This book takes the reader to a fictional journey through Bangladesh, the South Asian nation
that celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence in 2022. Like any literature arising out of
South Asia, the literature emanating from the deltaic plain now known as Bangladesh is tied
to politics and history. Through the 50 stories in this collection, the reader witnesses the rise
of a language-based nationalism and the subsequent birth of Bangladesh in 1971, and also
how the country fell back into the clutches of military dictatorship till democracy was
restored in 1990. Written over five decades from the 1950s to the 1990s, this carefully
curated collection introduces readers to the richness and sheer diversity of Bangladeshi short
fiction. These stories break all stereotypes about Bangladeshi writing and offer a rare glimpse
of how, from a rich realistic tradition in the 1950s, Bangladeshi fiction has evolved into many

different strains with the youngest bunch of writers often combining them all in their writing.
Bangladeshi fiction has a lot in common with fiction from other South Asian nations yet this
collection is proof that it is unique at the same time.