The Sister Library event themed “Memory” took place at DrikPath Bhaban at Dhanmondi on May 21.
Sister Library is a partnership between Goethe-Institut Bangladesh and HerStory Foundation that honours women's literary talent. The platform moderated by an “elder sister” organises monthly reading sessions of works by female authors.
This May, they teamed up with Talespeople, the group that organizes the annual Sehri Tales challenge, for a reading of selected works by female participants of this year's crop of Sehri Tales.
The event kicked off with a panel moderated by Sabrina Fatma Ahmad, the creator of Sehri Tales; Katerina Don, Creative Director and Co-Founder at CholPori and Curator at HerStory Foundation; and Sarah Anjum Bari, Books & Literary Editor at The Daily Star. Sabrina spoke about the creation and philosophies that inform the structure of the Sehri Tales challenge. Katerina talked about the aims of Sister Library, alongside why “Memory” was selected as a theme for May.
The shortlisted writers include Rokeya Asha, Maisha Islam Monamee, Nujhat Jabin, Tanisha Arman, Rifah Tashfia, Shanjida Nowshin, Fabiha Tanzeem, Shobnum Alam, Sadia Tasmia, Fahmida Sharmin, Nafisa Naomi, Nazmun Tabassum Mayeesha, Tasneem Tambawala, Sara Rashid, Farah Aziz Annesha, Faeeja Humaira Meem, and Farah Ghuznavi. The stories, in Bangla and English, covered a range of genres, from romance to science fiction.
The evening ended with a live demonstration of the art of prompt-based writing. Talespeople Director Abak Hussain headed a mini workshop on spontaneous writing and word association.
