Srabonti Ali

Srabonti graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a degree in Political Science in 2001, after which she worked for a year in New York in a non profit organization. She came back to Dhaka soon after and started working for The Daily Star as a staff writer for the weekly magazine, The Star. She took a sabbatical for a year to complete her masters in Media and Communications from King's College in London. During her free time she also tries to nurture her two other passions, singing and dancing. She was trained in Rabindra Sangeet (although she prefers singing in English) and also took Kathak lessons when she was younger. She is currently living in Dhaka with her husband and son.

Iffat Nawaz

The most balanced thing about Iffat is the fact that she has spent exactly half her life in Dhaka and the other half in Washington DC. Hoping between these two homes she is starting to also claim the sky in between. Hence the name of her weekly column in the Daily Star newspaper in Bangladesh "Under a Different Sky."  Besides her column Iffat loves to write fiction and prose. Constantly seeking new experiences she tries to push her limits, let it be by getting an open water scuba diving certification when barely knowing how to swim, or running the marathon with a left leg ever so slightly shorter than her right, or walking down dodgy streets of Moscow mentally believing she is a Russian.  Whatever the  case might be, in the end her hope is that something will come out of it, and they will be in words, pouring through her fingers.  She is currently working on a development project in Bangladesh, if you live in Dhaka you are likely to spot her on a rickshaw next to you, in her cotton shari, most likely eyeing some fresh fruit or aachar that the street vendor is selling around the corner.  

Sadaf Saaz Siddiqi

Growing up in and out of different worlds, life for Sadaf has somehow coalesced into an inspiring ball of energy and possibility. An incurable optimist and somewhat tempered idealist, she now lives life on a tightrope trying to multi-task a myriad of passions, having finally given up attempting to figure out 'what she wants to be when she grows up'. A molecular biologist by education, she tries to balance being a businesswoman by day (and often night!), with fighting for women's rights, arranging experience travel in BD, promoting the amazing world of South Asian perfoming arts, and ofcourse writing....

Awrup  Sanyal

Very long ago when magnet was discovered and radio waves were thought of as voices of gods, a little boy discovered invisibility, almost invisibly. Since then till now he has remained an outsider. He made his truce with loneliness early; born a single child, brought up in a boarding school, living all alone in big cities through college and career he had very little choice. Then one day he stepped out into the world of drugs: making him an itinerant voyeur scavenging the underbelly of a society; rubbing shoulders with drug lords and running consignments; walking through riot-ravaged city, through death and loss. The life-altering rollercoaster ride changed the way he thought he knew the world. He grew a healthy mistrust instead. Now, he is a peripatetic hobo trying to find out the difference between who he is and what he is and why he is what he is. Sleeping with detritus of failed relationships, hopping from and into meaningless jobs after jobs, and flirting with political ideologies and activism, he sought refuge in the familiarity of loneliness, collecting the stories he stole as he went along.

Sabrina Ahmad

Sabrina Fatma Ahmad occupies a dark place in her head where the dead talk, and broken hearts and lost dreams lie in wait for a glimmer of hope. Finding solace from her personal demons in writing, she's been filling the youth pages of various local newspapers since she was in the fourth grade. 

Barreling her way through high school, signing up for writing contests and editing positions for whatever school publication she could get her hands on, she soon set her sights higher.

For the past nine years, she's juggled a full-time job, writing, editing and modelling for The Daily Star, along with her day job as a junior lecturer at the Department of Media and Communications at the Independent University, Bangladesh.

In addition to her features and columns at The Daily Star, her work has been included in anthologies like Maps and Metaphors (British Council, 2006), Wonderful World of Worders (Guildhall Press, 2008), and Journeys (Sampad, 2010)

Sabrina is currently in Canada, pursuing a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. Her favourite authors include Terry Pratchett, Christopher Brookmyre, and Mercedes Lackey, although she cites Stephen King, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Helen Fielding as influences for her own work. 

Samir Asran Rahman

Samir Asran Rahman discovered the existence of multiple worlds, when he fell into an ordinary cardboard box, filled with books and comics, at the age of 6. The experience left an impression on him, with the subtlety of a cartoon sledgehammer. He is proud to have written and directed successful animation segments for Sesame Street because it validated a life spent consuming cartoons and comics – a constant concern for his well-meaning parents. He has given birth to two fictional children – Zak and Zooey – and has a hard time controlling their lives, seeing as they frequently end up calling all the shots. In one of the multiple worlds he inhabits (or wishes to inhabit), he writes for the TV shows, LOST and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Farah Ghuznavi

Farah Ghuznavi is a columnist and short story writer. She writes a regular column for the Star Magazine on a range of topics including politics, human interest, development issues, human rights and humour. Her short stories have been published in the anthology "From the Delta" (University Press Ltd, 2005) and have also featured in a number of magazine specials for the Daily Star and New Age newspapers.  With a background as a development professional, she has worked in Asia, Europe and Africa for organisations that include the Grameen Bank, the international NGO Christian Aid and the United Nations. These experiences have strongly influenced her work as a writer, particularly with respect to social justice, human behaviour and gender issues.  Her interest in current affairs has made her a self-confessed "news junkie" who needs access to a good newspaper and at least one hour of BBC World a day to remain functional!

Masud Khan Shujon

Salahdin Imam

Been around, done a lot, seen a lot,  now letting the distillate of all those years emerge in fevered fiction as I survey the world from my perch as a high mountain ram. Bit of a loner it turns out but what spectacular long cascading views in compensation. Need those out there with the nimble climbing footwork to share them with ? Aries in the cusp of Pisces, so my Fire is said to be tempered with Water, but a dangerous combination when it occasionally misfires as : wet ashes.  The principle of Duality is my life's study and practice. Above all, gratitude to God for well...Everything !

Lori Simpson

Tisa Muhaddes

Tisa Muhaddes believes in faries, mermaids, unicorns, and even pots of gold under the rainbow's end. Her one searing goal in life is to discover a pot of gold that will ensure a lifetime warranty of supply. Till that fortunate day arrives, she amuses herself by observing and noting the indiosyncracies that compose people, her surroundings, and life. With a li't bit of ingenuity, a dash of magic, and a tumbler of hope she attempts to capture everyday moments that make human beings frail, humane, endearing, and magical. 

shazia omar

Shazia Omar is a social psychologist.  She completed her undergrad at Dartmouth then worked for a year as an investment banker in New York.  One morning she watched a plane fly into her office, watched the building collapse, watched burning people fall through the sky, and then watched the forces of fear, hatred and greed take over the world.  This forced her to question her choices.  She embarked on a quest to find meaning.  After three years of traveling, visiting ashrams and learning yoga, she discovered that for her, happiness sprang from a strong spiritual connection, being in love and being creative.  Shazia participated in two writing workshops, one at the Groucho Club in London and one in Bali.  She completed a Masters at LSE to learn more about the human psyche.  She now works at a development agency and teaches pilates.  She lives with her beautiful family in Dhaka.  Shazia would like to participate in another writing retreat, maybe on some exotic beach.  She’d like to get certified in hypnotherapy and surfing, travel to Barcelona and Brazil, and find more time to meditate and play with her baby.  She’d like to meet Robert Downey Jr. and Arundhati Roy and Bob Dylan and Oprah.  She’d like to fully harness the power of her mind and spirit to keep her energy high, and while she knows detachment is an art, she’d rather stay passionately attached and positive.  

Munize M. Khasru

Mentally stuck at twenty-six, Munize teaches thirteen year old children and goes through the tribulations of puberty every year.

After getting her Masters Degree in Multi-Tasking, Munize is now pursuing a PhD in Motherhood’s Many Splendoured Madness. So far her advisors are pleased with her progress but the final dissertation is not due for another eleven years, by which time she plans to be too senile to care.

M K  Aaref

Sometimes he doodles with lines that become spaces, or with words that become stories. A bona fide dreamer cum procrastinator, he revels in his own rudderless existence, loves to travel and eat his way through, and mentally lives in an Utopian Lala Land where everything is perfect and humane.  When he is dwelling in reality, he runs an architecture practice, does occasional management consultancy and loves hanging out with his pets. He is Chittagonian by birth, Dhakaiya by upbringing, and totally of the world by accident, and feels at home everywhere and anywhere as long as a tuxedo is not required. He is one of those perpetual students always enrolled somewhere and dreams of joining the gym often, but never does.

Saad Hossain

Saad Z Hossain writes science fiction, fantasy, and other generally bizarre types of work, set in real and imaginary worlds. He is antisocial, amoral, and generally shunned by society. He is currently trying to outlive his peers so that he can have the last laugh.