Mahmud Rahman
@mahmudwriter.bsky.social
Writer. Translator. Short stories: Killing The Water, 2010, Penguin India. Translation: Black Ice, 2012, HarperCollins India. Nomad - Dhaka, Calcutta, Tulsa, Boston, Detroit, Providence, Bay Area, LA, Toyota, Philadelphia. 2025 NEA Translation Fellow.
Pinned
Mahmud Rahman
@mahmudwriter.bsky.social
· Oct 25
A visit to my father's village in Bangladesh gave me the chance to confront my father's legacy and reflect on what home has come to mean to me. I wrote an essay about this that was just published in the Washington Square Review.
www.washingtonsquarereview.com/mahmud-rahman
www.washingtonsquarereview.com/mahmud-rahman
Somehow I missed the news that Octavia Butler's Survivor novel has been recently republished. I knew she preferred the book to stay obscure, and I had not tried to hunt for a rare copy. There's a really good intro by Alyssa Collins that goes into her journey with the book.
October 3, 2026 at 1:16 PM
Somehow I missed the news that Octavia Butler's Survivor novel has been recently republished. I knew she preferred the book to stay obscure, and I had not tried to hunt for a rare copy. There's a really good intro by Alyssa Collins that goes into her journey with the book.
Remembering The Mighty Sparrow who just passed. I think I first heard him when I got a hold of this album in the mid 80s. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOWu...
Mighty Sparrow - Capitalism Gone Mad
YouTube video by Edward Spencer
www.youtube.com
September 29, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Remembering The Mighty Sparrow who just passed. I think I first heard him when I got a hold of this album in the mid 80s. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOWu...
While we watch the new Korean series Wonderfools, this was an interesting book review to come across. Korea's emergence into the global cultural stage in the last few decades is a fascinating story. Glad to see this piece raise the issue of the role of translation.
𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 | Sahar Othmani reviews Dal Yong Jin's 𝑈𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐾𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑒 (Routledge, 2023): "Long before this momentous occasion, however, South Korea had embarked on one of the most remarkable transnational cultural campaigns in history."
chajournal.com/2026/09/27/k...
chajournal.com/2026/09/27/k...
September 27, 2026 at 2:21 PM
While we watch the new Korean series Wonderfools, this was an interesting book review to come across. Korea's emergence into the global cultural stage in the last few decades is a fascinating story. Glad to see this piece raise the issue of the role of translation.
Very thorough, investigative story about a respected, famed Nepal scholar from the U.S. who stole historical treasures from Nepal. (I remember learning about one such respected man from the U.S. who stole in Bangladesh.)
Out now! A new @himalsouthasian.bsky.social investigation by @artcrimeprof.bsky.social on how Mary Slusser, a renowned US scholar, made her name as an expert on Nepal’s heritage while illicitly buying sacred artefacts and smuggling them out to the United States.
www.himalmag.com/mary-slusser...
www.himalmag.com/mary-slusser...
Mary Slusser’s secret loot of Nepal’s sacred art and heritage
A US scholar made her name as an expert on Nepal’s cultural heritage – while illicitly buying sacred artefacts and smuggling them out to the United States
www.himalmag.com
September 16, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Very thorough, investigative story about a respected, famed Nepal scholar from the U.S. who stole historical treasures from Nepal. (I remember learning about one such respected man from the U.S. who stole in Bangladesh.)
Been meaning to read this book for some time. chapter16.org/love-letter-...
Love Letter to the Dollyverse
Sarah Smarsh’s She Come by It Natural—part biography, part memoir, part love letter—arrives at a fascinating time in the evolving cultural persona of Dol…
chapter16.org
August 25, 2026 at 10:16 PM
Been meaning to read this book for some time. chapter16.org/love-letter-...
Reposted by Mahmud Rahman
Republicans have spent the last year trying to defund Dolly Parton
August 25, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Republicans have spent the last year trying to defund Dolly Parton
DELEGATE FROM RUSSIA: I propose a new initiative. Suppose different models of shoes from the same brand fit differently?
...
Imagine a child whose current shoe is a size 2. Their next pair, from the same company, in the same size, should either fall off immediately, prevent circulation, or… both.
...
Imagine a child whose current shoe is a size 2. Their next pair, from the same company, in the same size, should either fall off immediately, prevent circulation, or… both.
CHAIRPERSON: Let’s begin with the annual report. How are we doing?
ANALYST: Extremely well. Parents continue to ask questions such as, “How can my child be a size 1, a size 32, and a size 13 all at the same time?”
(Thunderous applause.)
ANALYST: Extremely well. Parents continue to ask questions such as, “How can my child be a size 1, a size 32, and a size 13 all at the same time?”
(Thunderous applause.)
Transcript from the Annual Meeting of the Global Children’s Shoe-Sizing Consortium
“Welcome, delegates. Before we begin, I’d like to congratulate everyone on another successful year of making children’s shoe sizing completely incomprehensib...
buff.ly
July 17, 2026 at 1:27 PM
DELEGATE FROM RUSSIA: I propose a new initiative. Suppose different models of shoes from the same brand fit differently?
...
Imagine a child whose current shoe is a size 2. Their next pair, from the same company, in the same size, should either fall off immediately, prevent circulation, or… both.
...
Imagine a child whose current shoe is a size 2. Their next pair, from the same company, in the same size, should either fall off immediately, prevent circulation, or… both.
Has our Chief Scientist Donald "Inject Bleach" Trump said anything about the illegal, bad air, swarming across our borders? Clearly it's too late to rake the forest floor up in Ontario but I would expect him to come up with other grand solutions only worthy of such a powerful true genius mind.
July 16, 2026 at 1:49 PM
Has our Chief Scientist Donald "Inject Bleach" Trump said anything about the illegal, bad air, swarming across our borders? Clearly it's too late to rake the forest floor up in Ontario but I would expect him to come up with other grand solutions only worthy of such a powerful true genius mind.
Sudden, unexpected deaths of certain kinds of politicians take me back to Nelson Rockefeller's. I wonder why.
July 13, 2026 at 1:01 AM
Sudden, unexpected deaths of certain kinds of politicians take me back to Nelson Rockefeller's. I wonder why.
Dhaka’s lost canals: "Their disappearance is a tale of negligence, greed, and weak enforcement. However, beneath the encroachment and lack of maintenance lies something older and more deliberate: an imported idea that water is a nuisance rather than an asset." www.thedailystar.net/slow-reads/b...
Dhaka: How a city was planned to drown
Dhaka waterlogging is driven by colonial urban planning that deliberately destroyed historic Dhaka canals and wetlands.
www.thedailystar.net
July 12, 2026 at 10:07 PM
Dhaka’s lost canals: "Their disappearance is a tale of negligence, greed, and weak enforcement. However, beneath the encroachment and lack of maintenance lies something older and more deliberate: an imported idea that water is a nuisance rather than an asset." www.thedailystar.net/slow-reads/b...
I had the good fortune of seeing him perform with Third Rail in the summer of 1997 in San Francisco. I'd just moved to the area a few months earlier. What he did with the guitar blew me away.
June 8, 2026 at 9:03 PM
I had the good fortune of seeing him perform with Third Rail in the summer of 1997 in San Francisco. I'd just moved to the area a few months earlier. What he did with the guitar blew me away.
Reposted by Mahmud Rahman
Today, 230 years ago, while George and Martha Washington were having dinner, Ona Judge escaped from slavery.
The first president attempted to recapture her relentlessly.
But she outlived the Washingtons by 50 years.
Read about those working to make Ona Judge a household name in America.
The first president attempted to recapture her relentlessly.
But she outlived the Washingtons by 50 years.
Read about those working to make Ona Judge a household name in America.
At a partially restored President’s House, Philly honored Ona Judge’s daring escape from slavery
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker signed an executive order designating May 21 "Ona Judge Day" on the 230th anniversary of Judge's daring escape from George and Martha Washington.
www.inquirer.com
May 22, 2026 at 12:37 AM
Today, 230 years ago, while George and Martha Washington were having dinner, Ona Judge escaped from slavery.
The first president attempted to recapture her relentlessly.
But she outlived the Washingtons by 50 years.
Read about those working to make Ona Judge a household name in America.
The first president attempted to recapture her relentlessly.
But she outlived the Washingtons by 50 years.
Read about those working to make Ona Judge a household name in America.
Reposted by Mahmud Rahman
Extraordinary work.
A conversation w/Samar about the book: arablit.org/2026/03/16/s...
A review by our Ibtihal Rida Mahmood:
arablit.org/2026/03/17/m...
A conversation w/Samar about the book: arablit.org/2026/03/16/s...
A review by our Ibtihal Rida Mahmood:
arablit.org/2026/03/17/m...
May 19, 2026 at 11:18 AM
Extraordinary work.
A conversation w/Samar about the book: arablit.org/2026/03/16/s...
A review by our Ibtihal Rida Mahmood:
arablit.org/2026/03/17/m...
A conversation w/Samar about the book: arablit.org/2026/03/16/s...
A review by our Ibtihal Rida Mahmood:
arablit.org/2026/03/17/m...
Many Black American writers found refuge in France and set stories and novels there. Richard Wright, James Baldwin, John A. Williams, William Gardner Smith.
Was this Black expat scene in France reflected in French literature? Are there works of fiction from France that focus a lens on that world?
Was this Black expat scene in France reflected in French literature? Are there works of fiction from France that focus a lens on that world?
May 17, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Many Black American writers found refuge in France and set stories and novels there. Richard Wright, James Baldwin, John A. Williams, William Gardner Smith.
Was this Black expat scene in France reflected in French literature? Are there works of fiction from France that focus a lens on that world?
Was this Black expat scene in France reflected in French literature? Are there works of fiction from France that focus a lens on that world?
Reposted by Mahmud Rahman
"Many ideas that enjoy enormous popularity among billionaires—cryogenic immortality, disregard for punctuation, the Antichrist—have scandalously been excluded from our labs and classrooms."
We’re Diversifying the University by Hiring More Crackpots
“For too long, the university has ignored the wisdom of the donor class and hired based on academic excellence. Regrettably, this has led to the underreprese...
buff.ly
May 14, 2026 at 1:03 PM
"Many ideas that enjoy enormous popularity among billionaires—cryogenic immortality, disregard for punctuation, the Antichrist—have scandalously been excluded from our labs and classrooms."
Reposted by Mahmud Rahman
“Huck shows great disrespect for the Court’s precedent in Dred Scott when aiding the fugitive Jim, presumably due to liberal indoctrination by the Widow Douglas.”
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/exc...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/exc...
Excerpts from Chief Justice John Roberts’ High School English Essays
“Huck shows great disrespect for the Court’s precedent in Dred Scott when aiding the fugitive Jim, presumably due to liberal indoctrination by the Widow Doug...
www.mcsweeneys.net
May 7, 2026 at 6:29 PM
“Huck shows great disrespect for the Court’s precedent in Dred Scott when aiding the fugitive Jim, presumably due to liberal indoctrination by the Widow Douglas.”
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/exc...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/exc...
Best not to monument men or any person no matter how much they might have historically meant for a movement. I wish all the memorials to Cesar Chavez, streets, parks, holidays, can be renamed for Farmworker Justice.
March 18, 2026 at 11:39 PM
Best not to monument men or any person no matter how much they might have historically meant for a movement. I wish all the memorials to Cesar Chavez, streets, parks, holidays, can be renamed for Farmworker Justice.
Yes, "every man." Been grappling with this all day. It is only thanks to women speaking out, women accusing, women bringing out these stories that might possibly mean that the possibility of future abuse may be lessened. We have a long way to go.
People are commenting about how this is about "powerful" men, but in a society that listens to men over women and girls, that treats the former as competent and credible, the latter as not, every man is empowered to abuse, and it happens at all levels and in all sectors of society.
March 18, 2026 at 11:23 PM
Yes, "every man." Been grappling with this all day. It is only thanks to women speaking out, women accusing, women bringing out these stories that might possibly mean that the possibility of future abuse may be lessened. We have a long way to go.
Reposted by Mahmud Rahman
Shocking but not surprising to learn Cesar Chavez sexually abused underaged girls.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/u...
Chavez was an organizing genius who became a deranged cult leader, leaving his union a shambles, as I explained 11 years ago in the NY Review:
www.nybooks.com/articles/201...
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/u...
Chavez was an organizing genius who became a deranged cult leader, leaving his union a shambles, as I explained 11 years ago in the NY Review:
www.nybooks.com/articles/201...
The Myths of Cesar Chavez | Timothy Noah
The civil rights movement of the 1960s gets a much better press than the labor movement. Yet the two causes were intertwined. Walter Reuther, president of
www.nybooks.com
March 18, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Shocking but not surprising to learn Cesar Chavez sexually abused underaged girls.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/u...
Chavez was an organizing genius who became a deranged cult leader, leaving his union a shambles, as I explained 11 years ago in the NY Review:
www.nybooks.com/articles/201...
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/u...
Chavez was an organizing genius who became a deranged cult leader, leaving his union a shambles, as I explained 11 years ago in the NY Review:
www.nybooks.com/articles/201...
Reposted by Mahmud Rahman
It was a joy to spotlight the Philly literary translation scene with my brilliant friends📚🖤🦅
One of the exciting things about moving to Philadelphia was discovering the city's literary translation community.
In this story BillyPenn at WHYY covers Philly's translation community focusing on those of us who are part of the network Transversal. billypenn.com/2026/03/03/l...
In this story BillyPenn at WHYY covers Philly's translation community focusing on those of us who are part of the network Transversal. billypenn.com/2026/03/03/l...
Philly’s literary translators want to increase visibility of their work
Philly has a broad translator community that allows English speakers to consume work from many different countries and cultures.
billypenn.com
March 4, 2026 at 4:42 PM
It was a joy to spotlight the Philly literary translation scene with my brilliant friends📚🖤🦅
Reposted by Mahmud Rahman
We couldn't read the greats like Anna Karenina, The Metamorphosis or Don Quixote without literary translators. Philly's own are doing their part, translating anti-war journals from Russian, representing queer French texts and bringing new perspectives to the U.S.
billypenn.com/2026/03/03/l...
billypenn.com/2026/03/03/l...
Philly’s literary translators want to increase visibility of their work
Philly has a broad translator community that allows English speakers to consume work from many different countries and cultures.
billypenn.com
March 3, 2026 at 8:56 PM
We couldn't read the greats like Anna Karenina, The Metamorphosis or Don Quixote without literary translators. Philly's own are doing their part, translating anti-war journals from Russian, representing queer French texts and bringing new perspectives to the U.S.
billypenn.com/2026/03/03/l...
billypenn.com/2026/03/03/l...
One of the exciting things about moving to Philadelphia was discovering the city's literary translation community.
In this story BillyPenn at WHYY covers Philly's translation community focusing on those of us who are part of the network Transversal. billypenn.com/2026/03/03/l...
In this story BillyPenn at WHYY covers Philly's translation community focusing on those of us who are part of the network Transversal. billypenn.com/2026/03/03/l...
Philly’s literary translators want to increase visibility of their work
Philly has a broad translator community that allows English speakers to consume work from many different countries and cultures.
billypenn.com
March 3, 2026 at 9:07 PM
One of the exciting things about moving to Philadelphia was discovering the city's literary translation community.
In this story BillyPenn at WHYY covers Philly's translation community focusing on those of us who are part of the network Transversal. billypenn.com/2026/03/03/l...
In this story BillyPenn at WHYY covers Philly's translation community focusing on those of us who are part of the network Transversal. billypenn.com/2026/03/03/l...
Been meaning to read Ryszard Kapuściński for a long time. Made sense to start with his book "Shah of Shahs" written when the Pahlavi monarchy was ousted.
This is a different kind of book, the blurb is right that it brings a 'mythographer's perspective and a novelist's virtuosity.'
This is a different kind of book, the blurb is right that it brings a 'mythographer's perspective and a novelist's virtuosity.'
March 3, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Been meaning to read Ryszard Kapuściński for a long time. Made sense to start with his book "Shah of Shahs" written when the Pahlavi monarchy was ousted.
This is a different kind of book, the blurb is right that it brings a 'mythographer's perspective and a novelist's virtuosity.'
This is a different kind of book, the blurb is right that it brings a 'mythographer's perspective and a novelist's virtuosity.'
Reposted by Mahmud Rahman
The 20th-century novelist Richard Wright and modern artist John Wilson shared a worldview that the violence they witnessed and heard stories about growing up wasn’t just about terror — it was a tool to control and exploit Black labor.
How Richard Wright Shaped John Wilson’s Protest Art
Wilson, like Wright before him, wrestled with the psychic toll of racial violence on Black families in his paintings and lithographs.
hyperallergic.com
February 21, 2026 at 2:32 PM
The 20th-century novelist Richard Wright and modern artist John Wilson shared a worldview that the violence they witnessed and heard stories about growing up wasn’t just about terror — it was a tool to control and exploit Black labor.
Reposted by Mahmud Rahman
JΛZZ HΞΛVΞN: Happy birthday to the legendary singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and activist Nina Simone
February 21, 1933–April 21, 2003
❝What kept me sane was knowing that things would change, and it was a question of keeping myself together until they did. ❞
February 21, 1933–April 21, 2003
❝What kept me sane was knowing that things would change, and it was a question of keeping myself together until they did. ❞
February 21, 2026 at 2:27 PM
JΛZZ HΞΛVΞN: Happy birthday to the legendary singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and activist Nina Simone
February 21, 1933–April 21, 2003
❝What kept me sane was knowing that things would change, and it was a question of keeping myself together until they did. ❞
February 21, 1933–April 21, 2003
❝What kept me sane was knowing that things would change, and it was a question of keeping myself together until they did. ❞