Sabrina Fatma Ahmad’s debut poetry collection Sehri Tales was launched through an informal program at Baatighar in Dhaka on Friday.
Published by Worthy Publications, Sehri Tales is an experimental book, originating in the month of Ramadan in 2016 when the poet decided to write a short poem at sehri hours every day.
The book launch started with a few words from the publishers who talked about their experience of working for the first time in the publishing industry.
In her speech, Sabrina shared how the Sehri Tales project started. She talked about how a neat writing exercise evolved into “stories [that] take on a documentation role—capturing the mood of the moment. The fun, creative exercise becoming therapy.”
Sabrina read three entries from her book that she felt encapsulated the essence of her collection. She paid tribute to a family friend and reminisced how he had advised her on life while teaching her how to play badminton. She ended her reading with a light-hearted piece on “Kacchi”, a popular biriyani dish.
When asked how she felt about the readings, Sabrina said, “It was unreal. I’ve done readings before, so it wasn’t until I was done that I realized this was for me, and not someone else’s project. I feel so blessed and so grateful.”
About her other writing projects, she said, “I’m also working on a translation of Juddher Sheshe Judho by Shilpi Rahman and writing a novella currently."
The event also saw the launch of The Mason Jar, another anthology of short stories by up and coming young writers, some of them as young as fifteen years old, who also shared their experiences of writing.
Noted journalist and musician Elita Karim delivered a speech, congratulating the authors and encouraging them to write more.
Worthy Publications has been founded by the brother-sister duo Nuzaimul Haque and Kasfia Haque Samara. They have bigger plans to take Worthy Publications to greater heights, and to reach out to audiences beyond Dhaka.
To promote their vision of nurturing raw talent, both the books have been published in their raw, unedited, pristine versions.
Sehri Tales and The Mason Jar are available for purchase at local bookstores. To buy it online, interested readers are requested to visit the publishers’ Facebook page.
