The Markaz signifies “the center” in Arabic, as well as Persian, Turkish, Hebrew and Urdu. TMR is an international platform for creative inquiry, criticism, performance and dialogue that explores the arts, humanities and current affairs.

TMR 17 REFUGE

Refuge, or the Inherent Dignity of Every Human Being

TMR’s edi­tor reflects on the expe­ri­ence of seek­ing home and refuge.

Editorial • 15 January, 2022 • Jordan Elgrably

Fiction from “Free Fall”: I fled the city as a murderer whose crime had just been uncovered

TMR presents an exclu­sive excerpt from Abeer Esber’s fourth nov­el, trans­lat­ed here by Nouha Homad, about a Dam­a­scene woman on the run, hid­ing out in Dubai.

Fiction • 15 January, 2022 • Abeer Esber, Nouha Homad

Taming the Immigrant: Musings of a Writer in Exile

For­mer pris­on­er and Egypt­ian writer in exile Ahmed Naji con­tem­plates what it means to be a “brown writer” in exile in America.

Essay • 15 January, 2022 • Ahmed Naji, Rana Asfour

Children in Search of Refuge: a Photographic Essay

Pho­tog­ra­ph­er, doc­u­men­tar­i­an and jour­nal­ist Iason Athanasiadis shares images from more than 10 years of report­ing from Afghanistan to Greece and back.

Art & Photography • 15 January, 2022 • Iason Athanasiadis

Poetry: In Search of Lost Places, 5 by Mbarek Sryfi

Moroc­can Amer­i­can poet and writer Mbarek Sry­fi reads from his work in an exclu­sive video pre­pared for The Markaz Review.

Poetry • 15 January, 2022 • Mbarek Sryfi

Getting to the Other Side: a Kurdish Migrant Story

Iason Athanasiadis paints the por­trait of Bahoz, a state­less Kurd who will keep fight­ing to become accept­ed for asy­lum in Europe.

Column • 15 January, 2022 • Iason Athanasiadis

“Europa,” Iraq’s Entry in the 94th annual Oscars, Frames Epic Refugee Struggle

Thomas Dal­lal reviews Haider Rashid’s new fea­ture film, “Europa,” Iraq’s for­eign fea­ture film entry to the upcom­ing 94th Acad­e­my Awards.

Film Review • 15 January, 2022 • Thomas Dallal

Refugees of Afghanistan in Iran: a Photo Essay by Peyman Hooshmandzadeh

In Iran, Afghan refugees have been a part our every­day lives for over four decades now.

Art & Photography • 15 January, 2022 • Peyman Hooshmandzadeh, Salar Abdoh

Settling: Towards an Arabic translation of the English word “Home”

Hisham Bus­tani med­i­tates on the asy­lum seek­er’s strug­gle to find a place to call home.

Featured article • 15 January, 2022 • Hisham Bustani, Alice Guthrie

The Displaced, the Unwanted, by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of the Pulitzer-Prize win­ning nov­el “The Sym­pa­thiz­er,” remem­bers where he came from and how he began his writer’s journey.

Featured excerpt • 15 January, 2022 • Viet Thanh Nguyen

Refugee Dreams — Three Poems by Meral Şimşek

A poet whose writ­ings and iden­ti­ty are con­test­ed by her own gov­ern­ment reads three poems from her book “Refugee Dreams” in the orig­i­nal Turkish.

Poetry • 15 January, 2022 • Meral Şimşek, Öykü Tekten

Meditations on “The Ungrateful Refugee”

Rana Asfour shares her thoughts on the wide­ly-cel­e­brat­ed book from Dina Nay­eri, who writes that escap­ing and becom­ing a refugee pre­oc­cu­pied her life for more than 20 years.

Book Review • 15 January, 2022 • Rana Asfour

Centerpiece

Taming the Immigrant: Musings of a Writer in Exile

Former prisoner and Egyptian writer in exile Ahmed Naji contemplates what it means to be a "brown writer" in exile in America.

Essay • Ahmed Naji, Rana Asfour

Editorial

Refuge, or the Inherent Dignity of Every Human Being

TMR's editor reflects on the experience of seeking home and refuge.

Fiction

Fiction from “Free Fall”: I fled the city as a murderer whose crime had just been uncovered

TMR presents an exclusive excerpt from Abeer Esber's fourth novel, translated here by Nouha Homad, about a Damascene woman on the run, hiding out in…

Essay

Taming the Immigrant: Musings of a Writer in Exile

Former prisoner and Egyptian writer in exile Ahmed Naji contemplates what it means to be a "brown writer" in exile in America.

Art & Photography

Children in Search of Refuge: a Photographic Essay

Photographer, documentarian and journalist Iason Athanasiadis shares images from more than 10 years of reporting from Afghanistan to Greece and back.

TMR Weekly

Inside TMR

Support TMR

24 Jan 2022 • Justin Stearns

Arabic and Latin, Cosmopolitan Languages of the Premodern Mediterranean and its Hinterlands

Justin Stearns, a scholar of the pre-modern Muslim Middle East, reviews the new book by Karla Mallette on the fascinating history of two of the world's great languages.

Read More →

24 Jan 2022 • Yahia Dabbous

Mapping an Escape from Cairo’s Hyperreality through informal Instagram archives

Even as the despotic rulers of post-revolution Egypt attempt to remake greater Cairo, hoping to gloss over the regime's dismal human rights record, one writer sees through the smoke and mirrors.

Read More →