The Book of Dhaka: A City in Short Fiction (Reading the City) - Softcover

'The quality of the translations and their editing is a testament to the quality of output from the workshops held at the Dhaka Translation Center, which noted Bangladeshi poet Kaiser Haq describes in the foreword: these stories are as alive as the city they celebrate and describe. The Book of Dhaka is an exciting omen for the future of Bangla-language literature translated into English.' --World Literature Today

'This is a Dhaka seen through the fictional lens of writers who have lived through the city's ugliness as well as its sheer beauties. ...This book stands to reason that collaborative efforts can actually make a difference and bridge the gap between cultures and languages, between the east and the west.' --The Dhaka Tribune

'For those familiar with narratives of Partition, however, it is still familiar ground; there is nothing new in these tales per se. Their uniqueness lies in the human element, in personal accounts of loss and sorrow. Not all losses are physical or tangible. Some of these stories capture, like a camera, the precise moment when one finds oneself staring into the eyes of defeat; when the very effort to fight back a greater force becomes a travesty.' --India Today

Dhaka is the world’s tenth largest city with a population of more than 18 million people. We will bring ten unique short stories from this overwhelming, vibrant, capital city to English-reading audiences in the next installation of our popular "Reading the City" series. Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh, which emerged as a nation state in 1971 after a violent struggle for independence from West Pakistan. Bangladesh and Dhaka have a very complex political and social history and an incredibly rich and varied cultural inheritance. Comma are very excited to bring a host of short stories in translation to a new audience.