Short Stories

Published on the occasion of the third anniversary of the paper, New Age Short Stories testifies to the role that the paper has played from the beginning in making Bangladeshi fiction, in English and in English translation, readily available to an English-reading audience. In the course of these three years, New Age has published so many stories that all of them could not be accommodated in one volume. Only stories that appeared from September 2003 to September 2005 have been included. When New Age started publication on June 7, 2003, it did not have a regular story feature.

In this second collection of short stories, Niaz Zaman brings the versatility of her pen and imagination to look at the world around her and tell the stories of men and women caught up in the business of living. While she often narrates her stories from the perspective of her women characters, she is also able to enter the minds of her male protagonist. What does it feel like when a man bids farewell to a child after divorce? How does a raw provincial react when he is in a cosmopolitan city for the first time?

This issue constitutes Volume 2 of Six Seasons Review (Numbers 1&2), the only English-language periodical published from Bangladesh devoted exclusively to arts and letters. The response to our first two numbers have been heartening, for many people have told us that they liked the format and the content. But we would like to receive more fiction, poetry, non-fiction prose essays, literary essays/book reviews from our readers (as well as praise). In particular, we look forward to receiving submissions for our fourth issue, which is a special number on Dhaka.

The twenty-four stories in 1971 and After are a representative fraction of the numerous short stories written about the War of Liberation and its aftermath. They include stories by well known writers such as Akhtaruzzaman Elias, Alauddin Al Azad, Hasan Azizul Huq, Humayun Ahmed, Makbula Manzoor, and Nasreen Jahan as well as by a number of less well known writers. Taken together, they give a varied perspective on the events of 1971 and after.