The Last Millefeuille in Beirut
As Beirut anticipates a military invasion, MK Harb's short story about two friends sharing a slice of cake unfolds.
Fiction
“Made to Measure”—fiction from Farah Ahamed
Sarah realizes that gatekeepers come in all shapes and forms — over the radio, at the end of an email, in government and the person right next to us...
“Dear Sniper” —a short story by Ali Ramthan Hussein
Gatekeepers of Baghdad decide who lives, who dies, during 2019 protests against high unemployment, state corruption, and poor services.
“Fragments from a Gaza Nightmare”—fiction from Sama Hassan
A Gaza-based writer captures the intense and harrowing experiences of individuals enduring the brutal realities of genocide.
“Kill the Music”—an excerpt from a new novel by Badar Salem
In this excerpt from Badar Salem's "Deserted as a Crowded Room," Majdal falls in love with a West Bank resistance fighter who winds up in solitary confinement.
“Common Types of Melancholy”—fiction from Shalaw Habiba
The Markaz Review presents a rare piece of prose in English translation from Kurdish writer Shalaw Habiba, translated by Savan Abdulrahman.
Excerpt from The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Savaş
In her new novel, much like an anthropologist, Ayşegül Savaş explores how people live, love and set down roots in a new country.
“Firefly”—a short story by Alireza Iranmehr
In this short story, an Iranian conscript keeps disappearing from duty. The natural world leaves clues of his whereabouts.
“The Mulberry Tree”—an excerpt from Altercation in Jahannam
In the Libyan village “Hell,” temperatures soar to unimaginable heights, and war breaks out over a parking space in the shade of a tree.
Victoria—An Excerpt
We present the first chapter of Karoline Kamel’s debut novel in a new translation in English by Ranya Abdelrahman.
“An Inherited Offense”—a Levantine story on the island of Leros
In this short story by Nektaria Anastasiadou, the male and female terebinth trees of a Levantine childhood help heal a fractured family.
“The Social Media Kids”—a short story by Qais Akbar Omar
In Qais Akbar Omar’s short story, a surprise homecoming threatens to upend the lives of a 14-year-old and her independent mother in Kabul.
The Mourning Diaries of Atash Shakarami
The diaries provide a complex double-layered narrative of Nika as a victim of regime brutality, and of Atrash as a survivor of state horror.
“A Blind Window on Childhood”—a short story by Hamoud Saud
Omani writer Hamoud Saud’s short story “A Blind Window on Childhood” translated from Arabic by Zia Ahmed, reveals a family's secret history.
“Ten-Armed Gods”—a short story by Odai Al Zoubi
In a stream of consciousness short story by Odai Al Zoubi, a minister under investigation in the Syrian government awaits his fate.