Samaresh Basu (1924- 1988) was an eminent Bengali writer known for his diverse body of literary works, which includes novels, short stories, essays, and travelogues. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kalkut and Bhramar. His active literary career spanned from 1946 to 1988, which was a transformative period in the history of India and Bengal. Being a part of this milieu himself, his literature distinctly captured the shifting dynamics of this socio-political fabric, advocating predominantly for the subaltern. His work has been at the center of accolades, disputes and debates during his lifetime and beyond.

The Samaresh Basu Digital Archive’s vision is to digitise and document the author’s personal and public records that will provide a comprehensive view of the parallels in his life and literature. In this archive, we have digitally preserved photographs, manuscripts and letters among other things collected primarily from his family and close associates. This archive also holds a chronological view of his life, his complete literary oeuvre as well as of works done on him (books, articles, research papers etc.).

The collection presented on the website is a selective view of the full digitised collection. This digital archive can only be accessed online and is open for all. This is the first private bilingual archive of its kind for any Bengali author which intends to expand archival practices of modern Bangla literature from the region, as well as facilitate modes of preservation for such family collections of cultural value.