TMR
BEIRUT
The Markaz Review or TMR exists to create community and be a virtual home away from home. We support artists and those of us who rely on creative people for insight, hope and inspiration.
- TMR
- Editorial
Beirut, Beirut
Our first editorial announces our debut issue devoted to Beirut.
- TMR
- CENTERPIECE
Beirut In Pieces
In this wide-ranging essay, the writer revisits life before and after the civil war, participates in Lebanon's revolution, imagines the country's monetary implosion, and contemplates the Port of Beirut explosion—all while weighing the social terms of Lebanon's political renewal.
September 15, 2020 • By Jenine Abboushi- TMR
- Featured Artist
Arts in the Pandemic Age
Covid-19 shows no sign of abating, forcing cities and some countries into more quarantines and further lockdown; without music, cinema, literature and artistic events, how long can we hold on?
September 15, 2020 • By Melissa ChemamMORE FROM THIS ISSUE
Contretemps, a Bold Film on Lebanon’s Crises
Filmmaker Ghassan Salhab presents an immersive study of Lebanese youth, the silent isolation of mortality, and resistance.
16 MAY, 2025 • BY JIM QUILTY
In Lebanon, Art is a Matter of Survival
Cultural arts venues have reopened, but Lebanon still faces canceled international events due to the ongoing war and evacuation orders.
22 NOVEMBER, 2024 • BY NADA GHOSN
The Haunting Reality of Beirut, My City
Roger Assaf's poetic script for Jocelyne Saab's 1982 film about the siege of Beirut puts one in mind of today's stark reality in Lebanon.
8 NOVEMBER, 2024 • BY ROGER ASSAF
Between Two Sieges: Translating Roger Assaf in California
Letters from a displaced Lebanese poet today to civil war-era actor-director Roger Assaf evoke Beirut in 1982, 2006 and 2024.
8 NOVEMBER, 2024 • BY ZEINA HASHEM BECK
Witnessing Catastrophe: a Painter in Lebanon
Tom Young's art raises important questions about studying images and the lasting impact of colonialism in the Arab world.
4 OCTOBER, 2024 • BY ZIAD SUIDAN
Ripped from Memoirs of a Lebanese Policeman
True reflections of a former officer of the law in Lebanon from his hit memoir, translated by Lina Mounzer.
5 JULY, 2024 • BY FAWZI ZABYAN
World Picks from the Editors: Mar 23— Apr 5
TMR editors highlight the best events, books, films, podcasts and other cultural products from around the globe.
22 MARCH, 2024 • BY MALU HALASA
“The Summer They Heard Music”—a short story by MK Harb
There are some long, languid and even dangerous summers that Beirutis can never forget, and this is one of them.
3 DECEMBER, 2023 • BY MK HARB
Why We Stay in Beirut, Despite Its Countless Crises
TMR's editor in chief, Jordan Elgrably, asks four Beirutis why they stay, and how they manage, enduring one crisis after another.
3 DECEMBER, 2023 • BY JORDAN ELGRABLY
War and Art: A Lebanese Photographer and His Protégés
War and documentary photographer Maher Attar opens the Art District in Beirut to nurture other artists and beauty.
13 NOVEMBER, 2023 • BY NICOLE HAMOUCHE
I, SOUAD or the Six Deaths of a Refugee From Aleppo
Poet and novelist Joumana Haddad tells the true story of a refugee from Aleppo who winds up on the streets of Beirut.
9 OCTOBER, 2023 • BY JOUMANA HADDAD
Neither Explosions Nor Inflation Have Sunk Beirut’s Bookshops
Books continue to be a mainstay in Beirut, although bookshops are resorting to survival strategies.
10 JULY, 2023 • BY JUSTIN OLIVIER SALHANI
“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
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
Newly Re-Opened, Beirut’s Sursock Museum is a Survivor
Arie Amaya-Akkermans recounts the history of Beirut's museum, with its multiple destructions and resurrections.
12 JUNE, 2023 • BY ARIE AMAYA-AKKERMANS