Book Launch: Annoyingly in Love by Neha Ghose and Shreya Talukder
On Tuesday, December 31, 2024, the Department of English and Humanities at ULAB hosted a book launch event for the highly anticipated romance manhwa Annoyingly in Love written by Neha Ghose, Lecturer, DEH, and Advisor, ULAB English Zone, and illustrated by DEH alumna Shreya Talukder.
In his welcome speech, Vice Chancellor Prof. Imran Rahman congratulated the book’s creators and complimented the department’s initiative to launch such a new style of book at ULAB.
Prof. Kaiser Haq, Dean, School of Arts and Humanities, mentioned how readers can relate to the characters despite their East Asian profiles. Prof. Haq also wondered whether the choice of characters with East Asian looks would create obstacles in the process of decolonizing the mind. He further mentioned that he looks forward to seeing how this plays out.
Prof. Shamsad Mortuza, Special Advisor to the Board of Trustees, called the book a wonderful production in his charming speech and mentioned how much he is looking forward to reading it.
The book was then ceremoniously unwrapped and launched by all the faculty present.
In her response to Prof. Haq’s remarks, Neha Ghose, author of the book, stated how this choice was a tribute to what both the creators are passionate about and what they grew up watching – Korean dramas and Japanese anime.
When speaking about what message she plans on putting forward with the book, Ms. Ghose expressed that she wishes to inspire readers to write more books like those they might not openly accept to be interested for fear of being judged by society. Regardless of the genre, she said, all books will find an audience just like her own.
Ms. Shreya Talukder reflected on the difficulties she faced when creating the character sheets. She expressed her love for cosplays which made her more interested in collaborating in this project. Speaking on the subject of facing criticism on the choice of genre, she mentioned how it did not affect her since this project was their own idea and creation. During the conversation, she was asked about her journey towards becoming a digital artist. Ms. Talukder shared how she started out in 2016 with merely drawing on her phone and then purchased a tablet when she became more serious about becoming an illustrator.
Hosted by Oliur Rahman Sun, Lecturer, DEH, the creators concluded the program by thanking everyone in attendance for their support. The audience responded warmly by purchasing copies of the book and having them signed by both the author and the illustrator.
Report by Tarannum Ahmed (231013042)
