TMR 33
Stories from The Markaz
TMR Issue 33 – 26 articles – 342 pages If pictures are worth a thousand words then short stories are worth a thousand-and-one. The Markaz Review’s double 2023 summer literary issue features short stories, memoir, plays, a graphic novel, and creative nonfiction, some of which appears in English for the first time, translated from Arabic or Persian, with wide-ranging themes, from from domestic abuse in Egypt to multiracial relationships in London and queer life in Beirut.
- TMR 33
- Editorial
Stories From The Markaz, Stories From the Center
TMR's literary editor introduces the 2023 double summer literary issue.
MORE FROM THIS ISSUE
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
A moving testimony to life, death, and the human condition by an Egyptian journalist who was blessed, and cursed.
2 JULY 2023 • BY MOHAMED ABOELGHEIT
Arrival in the Dark—fiction from Alireza Iranmehr
Away from prying eyes, two lonely people pass time together under the state of emergency that has become Iran.
2 JULY 2023 • BY ALIREZA IRANMEHR
“Here, Freedom”—fiction from Danial Haghighi
A small town couple have a brutally honest conversation about marriage in light of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.
2 JULY 2023 • BY DANIAL HAGHIGHI
“The Cactus”—new fiction from Mohammed Al Naas
Can a man who loves a woman prove his mettle by taking proper care of a cactus that stings him with its spines?
2 JULY 2023 • BY MOHAMMED ALNAAS
“The Agency”—a story by Natasha Tynes
A shrewd businesswoman runs a matchmaking agency in Amman that finds brides for male clients based on a virginity scale.
2 JULY 2023 • BY NATASHA TYNES
We Saw Paris, Texas—a story by Ola Mustapha
In Ola Mustapha's new story, a man falls for the seduction of a film and it becomes the blueprint for love, life, and even death.
2 JULY 2023 • BY OLA MUSTAPHA
Rich and Poor People—fiction by Farah Ahamed
After her controlling husband dies, a wealthy woman obsesses over the neighborhood crows until her maid decides to take matters into her own hands.
2 JULY 2023 • BY FARAH AHAMED
Being Without Belonging: A Jewish Wedding in Abu Dhabi
Deborah Kapchan's introspection on belonging and faith on attending the first officially recognized Jewish wedding in the United Arab Emirates.
2 JULY 2023 • BY DEBORAH KAPCHAN
“My Mother is a Tree”—a story by Aliyeh Ataei
Aliyeh Ataei's new story centers on a young woman exploring herself as a writer while choosing life in Paris.
2 JULY 2023 • BY ALIYEH ATAEI
“The Afghan and the Persian”—a short story by Jordan Elgrably
An Afghan refugee, survivor of a shipwreck, washes up on the shores of southern France and applies for asylum in Montpellier.
2 JULY 2023 • BY JORDAN ELGRABLY
“The City Within”—fiction from MK Harb
In MK Harb's latest story, a man steps out of his home in Beirut after two years of living in isolation to a life-changing encounter.
2 JULY 2023 • BY MK HARB
Zahhāk: An Etiology of Evil
Omid Arabian recounts the legend of the serpent king from Ferdowsi's epic "Shāhnameh," exploring human psychology and the roots of tyranny.
2 JULY 2023 • BY OMID ARABIAN
Rebels of the Alpujarras: a House in Granada
Nestled in the old Arab quarter of Granada lies a house with an exceptional Morisco history, the Carmen Aben Humeya.
2 JULY 2023 • BY DOREEN METZNER
“The Burden of Inheritance”—fiction from Mai Al-Nakib
In Mai Al-Nakib’s new short story, a woman makes a Herculean effort to preserve the memory and artwork of her late husband.
2 JULY 2023 • BY MAI AL-NAKIB
“The Burden of Inheritance”—fiction from Mai Al-Nakib
In Mai Al-Nakib’s new short story, a woman makes a Herculean effort to preserve the memory and artwork of her late husband.
2 JULY 2023 • BY MAI AL-NAKIB
In Shahrazad’s Hammam—fiction by Ahmed Awadalla
Ahmed Awadalla’s new story reveals sexual pleasure and doubt in a bathhouse in Beirut.
2 JULY 2023 • BY AHMED AWADALLA
STAMP ME—a monologue by Yussef El Guindi
Yussef El Guindi explores an anxious traveler's mind racing with thoughts of what to say as he faces border and customs control.
2 JULY 2023 • BY YUSSEF EL GUINDI
The Ship No One Wanted—a story by Hassan Abdulrazak
Can a crush on a teacher survive marriage, revolution, and a sinking, refugee dingy on the Mediterranean Sea?
2 JULY 2023 • BY HASSAN ABDULRAZZAK
Inside the Giant Fish—excerpt from Rawand Issa’s graphic novel
In Rawand Issa's "Inside the Giant Fish," a girl looks for her lost memories on a beach that no longer exists.
2 JULY 2023 • BY RAWAND ISSA
Naar, Are You illuminated?
A fiction that celebrates the indomitable spirit of women who embrace their agency.
2 JULY 2023 • BY BINT MAGDALIYYA
“Nadira of Tlemcen”—fiction from Abdellah Taïa
Sometimes you have to escape everything you know in order to become yourself.
2 JULY 2023 • BY ABDELLAH TAïA
Abortion Tale: On Our Ground
In Ghadeer Ahmed's latest story, three women with no abortion rights refuse to be victims of exploitation and blackmail.
2 JULY 2023 • BY GHADEER AHMED
Hayat and the Rain—fiction from Mona Alshammari
The power of the imagination may not be enough to save a young girl’s hopes when faced with rural poverty.
2 JULY 2023 • BY MONA AL-SHAMMARI
On Ice—fiction from Malu Halasa
In an excerpt from an unpublished novella by Malu Halasa, ice skating in the desert is more than just a sport.
2 JULY 2023 • BY MALU HALASA
Tears from a Glass Eye—a story by Samira Azzam
Samira Azzam was a Palestinian short story writer whose work influenced her more famous successor, Ghassan Kanafani.
2 JULY 2023 • BY SAMIRA AZZAM
Genesis and East Cairo—fiction from Shady Lewis Botros
In this excerpt from Shady Lewis Botros' latest novel, a child’s innocent counting game masks a disturbing reality.
2 JULY 2023 • BY SHADY LEWIS BOTROS