MOTHER TONGUE
- Editorial
Of Mother Tongues and Sleeping Orchids
Mother tongues, endlessly chimeric, endlessly beguiling, can become both dangerous baggage and precious commodity.
- CENTERPIECE
Ojalá: Toward an Illiteracy of Liberation
In the wake of the genocide in Gaza, a Palestinian writer loses her words — until she finds her way back to language in another tongue.
6 March 2026 • By Sarah Aziza- Featured Artist
Universal Words, the Art of Mariem Abutaleb
In which a young artist goes beyond words, beyond language, to create meaning with signs and symbols of her own creation.
6 March 2026 • By Naima MorelliMORE FROM THIS ISSUE
Culture Got Your Tongue
A writer questions whether physical ailments — numbness, stuttering, uncontrollable trembling — may in fact stem from a cultural silencing, in this case of Turkish identity and belonging.
6 MARCH 2026 • BY AMY OMAR
New Poems: “bey-zubaan; without a tongue”
This collective work, penned by seven Afghan writers, offers a counter-narrative to dismantle the disaster narrative mapped onto Afghan lives.
6 MARCH 2026 • BY SHEESHAKA
“Sara”—a short story
Palestinian writer Majd Aburrub dissects the exquisite loneliness of losing one's mother tongue.
6 MARCH 2026 • BY MAJD ABURRUB
“It’s Not ‘Whatever’”: On Mother Tongue, Exile, and Inheritance
A Lebanese poet in California, Zeina Hashem Beck tends to the tension between Arabic and English, grief and joy, and the inheritance of our mother tongues.
6 MARCH 2026 • BY ABDELRAHMAN ELGENDY
English and My Mother’s Ghost
A writer traces the circuitous journey of a mother tongue, noting that “accidents of geography and family history” made English, and not Arabic, her first language.
6 MARCH 2026 • BY MAI AL-NAKIB
“Sorry about the Typos”—two Poems by Hajer Requiq
Two poems explore the contradictions within language and how they influence and reshape our perception of the world.
6 MARCH 2026 • BY HAJER REQUIQ
Language and the Mother Eternal
A reflection on how multiple languages in a family become a perfect conduit for grief and acceptance.
6 MARCH 2026 • BY FARAH AHAMED
“Words That Don’t Sink”—a short story
A simple debate over a spoon opens a space in which a group of Syrian migrants reclaim an identity on the brink of erasure.
6 MARCH 2026 • BY ZEINAB GHASSAN KHADDOUR
The Mother Tongue Booklist
A curated collection of books that explore how our language shapes who we are and how we connect with the world.
5 MARCH 2026 • BY RANA ASFOUR
“Urdu,” a poem—Language as Heirloom
A poet of Pakistani heritage raised around Arabic and English longs for deeper expression of her mother's tongue.
6 MARCH 2026 • BY NAMAL SIDDIQUI
Three Artists, Five Writers on Mother Tongues
TMR's Editor-in-Chief, curious about how people negotiate their identity between a mother tongue and other languages, asked a few questions.
6 MARCH 2026 • BY JORDAN ELGRABLY
Tasting Tongues—recipes and more
Acclaimed chef Anissa Helou reflects on the delights of eating tongue, and shares a few of her recipes for the ideal ways to enjoy it.
5 MARCH 2026 • BY ANISSA HELOU