A contemporary Bengali short fiction anthology in translation showcasing diverse voices, themes, and narratives, capturing evolving realities and resonant storytelling across cultures.

Six stories with the soul of poetry delve deep into the world of the unsaid, exploring landscapes of fear, loneliness, and the fires that often singe the hems of freedom. Six stories that showcase the brilliance of a master storyteller like Nasreen Jahan. Six stories to provoke thought, redefine boundaries, and shatter conventions. Here is a collection that will linger in our memories forever, never to be forgotten.

Windborne is an anthology of translated Assamese short stories that incorporates and depicts the tormented and fragmented past of this Northeastern State of India. In this collection, the socio-economic and political history, contextual present, and how it demarcates the potentials and actuals of a future are expressed through ten diverse, multifaceted, and multidimensional contemporary fictions.

Stories of this collection are often brief, spun out of everyday lives, longings and pearls of joys of your next-door humans. But they are also stories that cast long shadows, permanent resonances and stay with you forever.

These short stories are a riveting exploration of love and desire. The worlds they open are mystical, metaphorical, absolutely surreal and playful—yet the concerns and questions raised in them are urgent and immediate. Nandini Gupta lucidly translates these stories rendering Sadique Hossain’s unique voice accessible to a wider audience.

Works of some of the finest living practitioners of modern Bengali short fiction, including Swapnamoy Chakraborty, the winner of the Sahitya Academy Award, Sakyajit Bhattacharya, and acclaimed Bangladeshi writers such as Mojaffor Hossain and Shaheen Akhtar, have been curated here for anglophone readers. Shamita Das Dasgupta’s fluid translation of the stories keeps the essence and depth of the original intact while making this book an invaluable addition to a global reader’s shelf.

Jarring and speculative, these stories are capable of keeping the readers on their toes. They are invited to follow an intriguing red balloon buoyed in the air by the contradictions of society, in a polyphonic display of clashing and colluding modernity and tradition, relations between classes, sexes, generations, city and countryside, professions new and old. Every piece here is fated to stick with you for decades to come.

Indira Dangi, in this collection of short stories, exhibits the fine intricacies of today’s Indian life. Every single narrative in this book pictures the normal, seemingly ordinary moments and brilliantly brings out how they transcend mundaneness, offering the reader a poignant reflection on modern life. Her captivating and evocative way of telling stories takes the reader on a journey through the heart of India’s vibrant mosaic. A profound exploration of the shared human experience is what the reader will surely be gifted with these stories.

The stories collected in this volume of The Year’s Best Bengali Fiction were all written in 2022 and were translated into English over the next year. These works of fiction are aware of their times as they throw light on the edges and depths of our communities and characters. In these troubled times, when it seems often that a lot of the ears have gone dead, like a lot of those mouths that instead of screaming, turn into stones, these stories, seeped in deep empathy for human lives and conditions, glowing in poised craftsmanship of narration and translation, offer a space of possibility, of conversation and resonance. Starting with this edition, we aspire to form a representative yearly archive of contemporary Bengali short fiction for global anglophone readers.

Swapnamoy Chakraborty’s style spans over a spectrum of tales. From grief, to gender, there is something in every story that deeply resonates. Readers come back to his work because of his ease with language, and it is this ease that Chaitali Sengupta captures in her translations of these six stories from the celebrated Bengali story-teller. This rendition in the Six Stories Series also contains an exclusive interview with the author himself, as he delves into his beginnings as a writer, readership in the modern world, and translation as a craft.

মারাঠি থেকে বাংলায় প্রথমবার অনূদিত হল হামিদ দালওয়াই-এর ছোট গল্পের সংকলন। মুম্বাইয়ের ঝুপড়া থেকে মধ্যবিত্তের কাটানো চরিত্র ও পশ্চাৎপদতার সময়—ব্যক্তিতে তাঁর জীবনবোধ, বৈচিত্র্যবোধ ও রাজনীতির ক্রমবিবর্তন—গৃহীত গল্পগুলিতে পরিস্ফুট।

Bhagirath Mishra’s genius lies in capturing heart- wrenching tales in a fluent and evocative language. His characters unravel from the shadows and folds, intrigue, and win your heart. This brief curation, translated from Bengali by Subhashis Gangopadhyay, Mrinal Kanti Dasgupta, Amlan Biswas, and Amita Roy, introduces one of Bengal’s most prolific writers to global readers through six of his best-known stories.

প্রতি বছর বাংলা ভাষায় কয়েক হাজার গল্প প্রকাশিত হয়। তার মধ্যে ভালো গল্প খুঁজে পাওয়া যে কোনও পাঠকের কাছেই দুঃসাধ্য। সেই কাজটি সহজ করে দেবে এই সংকলন। সারা বছর ধরে বিভিন্ন পত্রিকায় প্রকাশিত সেরা-গল্পগুলির নির্বাচিত সংকলন এটি। পাঠক একসঙ্গে অনেকগুলি ভালো গল্প পড়তে পারবেন একটি সংকলনে। বিষয়ের অনন্যতায়, ভাষার প্রয়োগে, উপস্থাপনার সৌকর্যে, আঙ্গিকের স্বাতন্ত্র্যে সংকলিত প্রতিটি গল্পই স্বমহিম। প্রতিটি গল্পই যত্ন নিয়ে লেখা। কোনও কোনও গল্প এমনই যে বিশ্লেষণ করা যায় না কিন্তু অনুভব করা যায়। জীবনের গহন বিচিত্রচারিতা কিংবা সমাজ পরিবার রাষ্ট্রের প্রবল প্রতাপে আক্রান্ত মানুষের তীব্র যন্ত্রণা আশ্চর্যভাবে তুলে ধরেছেন লেখকেরা। ধীমান পাঠকের পাঠ অভিজ্ঞতাকে সমৃদ্ধ করবে এই সংকলন।

For more than 150 years, Bengali short stories have captivated readers, evolving in style and substance while maintaining their deep literary roots. But where do they stand today? Do contemporary voices carry the same spark of innovation and emotional depth? The Year’s Best Collection of Bengali Short Stories in Translation, 2025, seeks to answer these questions by spotlighting the finest stories of the year—fresh narratives that challenge, surprise, and move us. Carefully selected by a distinguished panel, out of hundreds of submissions, these twelve made it to the final shortlist. In the brief span of the form, some of Bengal’s most powerful narrative voices have come up with pieces that hold appeal in layers of their language, telling, and narration. They reflect the best contemporary writing in Bangla in their moving portrayals of life, empathy, and consciousness. Now translated into English for global anglophone readers, these Bengali stories will surely leave them as impressed as their original counterparts. Whether you are a devoted reader of Bengali literature or a newcomer eager to explore its modern brilliance, this anthology offers a compelling snapshot of the short story’s ongoing journey— alive, unbroken, and ever-evolving.

Quirky at times, humorous at others, these beautifully told narratives roam across dimensions and worlds, with a delicacy of touch that evokes spirits as well as mango-greedy matrons, the seasons as well as preparations for contemporary Bihu celebrations, folk tales as well as life in an urban colony. These highly inventive stories make for a very absorbing read for the young readers as well as the older ones.

প্রতি বছর বাংলা ভাষায় কয়েক হাজার গল্প প্রকাশিত হয়। তার মধ্যে ভালো গল্প খুঁজে পাওয়া যে কোনো পাঠকের কাছেই দুঃসাধ্য। সেই কাজটি সহজ করে দেবে এই সংকলন। সারা বছর ধরে বিভিন্ন পত্রিকায় প্রকাশিত সেরা গল্পগুলির নির্বাচিত সংকলন এটি। পাঠক একসঙ্গে অনেকগুলি ভালো গল্প পড়তে পারবেন একটি সংকলনে। বিষয়ের অনন্যতায়, ভাষার প্রয়োগে, উপস্থাপনার সৌকর্যে, আঙ্গিকের স্বাতন্ত্রে সংকলিত প্রতিটি গল্পই স্বমহিম। প্রতিটি গল্পই যত্ন নিয়ে লেখা। কোনো কোনো গল্প এমনই যে বিশ্লেষণ করা যায় না কিন্তু অনুভব করা যায়। জীবনের গহন বিচিত্রচারিতা কিংবা সমাজ পরিবার রাষ্ট্রের প্রবল প্রতাপে আক্রান্ত মানুষের তীব্র যন্ত্রণা আশ্চর্য ভাবে তুলে ধরেছেন লেখকেরা। ধীমান পাঠকের পাঠ অভিজ্ঞতাকে সমৃদ্ধ করবে এই সংকলন।

This collection of six short stories, translated from Bengali by Madhura Bhattacharya, Rituparna Majumder and Sarban Bandyopadhyay explores partition, loss, identity, and human relationships. Authored by Abhijit Sen, a writer deeply connected to the soil and history of Bengal, he draws these stories from his extensive travels through mufossil towns and villages across the region. Sen’s narratives resonate with authenticity, weaving tales rooted in the lived experiences of rural Bengal. His characters are vivid portraits of humanity, reflecting the richness of his varied life experiences. The partition of Bengal and its aftermath, the fragility of relationships, and the quest for identity form the emotional core of his work, making this collection a testament to his literary prowess and profound understanding of the human condition. Sen’s voice transcends linguistic boundaries through these translations, bringing the timeless essence of Bengal’s cultural and historical landscape to a broader audience.

Deftly translated, the twelve stories of this Anthology explore Shahaduz Zaman’s keen insight into the myriad aspects of human consciousness, of walking the tightrope of life, the possibility of morality, humanity, goodness in the face of war, greed and corruption.

A compelling collection of ten stories offering the glimpse of everything possible yet it is not, veridically. Chronicles of an Impossibility invites the readers to reflect on life’s fleeting moments, desire, anguish and other sentiments one should perceive, offering a tapestry of tales that linger long after the final pages.

ছোটগল্প বাংলা সাহিত্যের একটি শ্লাঘার জায়গা। ছোটগল্প তার বিন্যাস, প্রকার কিংবা আয়তনে একরকমের শিল্প ও মনোযোগ দাবী করে। আজকের বাংলা গল্পের লেখকেরা কোন দেশের বা রাজ্যের সীমারেখায় আর আবদ্ধ নন। আমাদের পছন্দের গল্পেরাও তাই বিস্তৃত হয়েছে মানচিত্রের বহু কোণে।