“In her groundbreaking work of science-fiction, ‘Sultana’s Dream,’ the pioneering Bengali writer, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, imagines a world where gender roles are reversed, and women hold leadership positions. With its emphasis on education, technological advancements, and the power of women’s leadership, Hossain’s work remains vitally relevant today. Kudos to Ben Baer for his fine translations of these important texts.”
—Amitav Ghosh, author, most recently, of Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories
“A gorgeous, urgent compilation of the feminist, decolonizing vision of Rokeya Hossain, and of her understanding that the best speculative fiction poses a challenge to the violence of the present.”
—Siddhartha Deb, author of The Light at the End of the World
“Rokeya’s uniquely fanciful and didactic mode is brilliantly showcased in this small but significant selection of her writings. Spider-Mother offers the added richness of a fresh translation of her Bengali texts by Ben Baer, illustrations to ‘Sultana’s Dream’ by the graphic artist Chitra Ganesh, and an introduction by the editors that addresses, with insight and solicitude, each of the six pieces included in the volume. The result is a volume that will be of compelling interest to readers of feminist, speculative, eco-critical, and postcolonial writing. Those new to Rokeya’s writings will discover new worlds in this introduction to a pioneering South Asian woman writer’s oeuvre.”
—Rajeswari Sunder Rajan, formerly Global Distinguished Professor, New York University
“Efficiently and affectionately introduced and translated, this book will, at last, ferry Begum Rokeya’s uncommon imagination to new readers.”
—Sumana Roy, author of How I Became a Tree and Provincials
“This groundbreaking collection introduces readers to the writing of pioneering Bengali educator, activist, and author Rokeya Hossain, much of which is translated to English here for the first time. Featuring Hossain’s original speculative stories, journalistic essays, and political manifestoes alongside contemporary illustrations and scholarly essays, editors Ben Baer and Smaran Dayal remind us that the future has always been female, and that feminism and science fiction have always been global endeavors. A must read for students, scholars, artists, and activists alike. Highly recommended!”
—Lisa Yaszek, editor of The Future is Female! series and The Routledge Companion to Gender and Science Fiction
Spider-Mother is a remarkable collection of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s key writings including her most famous work, “Sultana’s Dream.” The book which includes not only brilliant, original translations by Ben Baer but also provides multiple framings—a preface by the renowned Bangladeshi writer, Akhtaruzzaman Elias, a foreword by contemporary feminist activist Shahana Hanif, and an artist’s statement by Chitra Ganesh commenting on her own linoleum relief print illustrations included alongside “Sultana’s Dream”—makes the selected compilation extraordinary and exceptional. The editors, Baer and Dayal, have taken great pains to provide meticulous, situated and simultaneously visionary contextual introductions to the different sections making the anthology essential reading for modern South Asian writing.
—Sangeeta Ray, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of Maryland