“Twelve Angels”—fiction from Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi
In this short story by Egyptian writer Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi, translated from Arabic, a man contends with his mortality on his death bed.
short story
“Kabul’s Haikus”—fiction from Maryam Mahjoba
In this short story by Maryam Mahjoba, a teacher from Japan travels to Afghanistan to teach at a girl's school.
“Junk”—a short story by May Haddad
Recycling violence, a fighting droid wants to leave a dystopian world of mechanized blood sports, but a human gets in the way.
A Jaha in the Metaverse—fiction by Fadi Zaghmout
A short story by Jordanian writer Fadi Zaghout in which a traditional Jordanian "Jaha" ceremony takes place in the metaverse.
“The Followers”—a short story by Youssef Manessa
A selfish loser walks away from wasta and the Za’im' nefarious agenda he created and instrumentalized in this short story by Youssef Manessa.
“Before the Earthquake”—a short story by Salah Badis
In which a woman ponders the fate of the individuals who left behind their garments, now long forgotten, at the laundromat.
“The Hauntology of Varosha” or “Room Number 137 of the Argo Hotel”
A Cypriot writer's story about a forgotten child in an abandoned town the writer looked on to from her window in Cyprus.
“Silence is Golden”—a short story by Farah Ahamed
In Farah Ahamed's latest satire, one man's misunderstood greatness drives him to take preposterous action.
“Supplication”—a short story by Hisham Bustani
In Hisham Bustani’s new short story, one man’s religious nightmare brings him face to face with an unlikely public intellectual of his day.
“Sweet Tea”—a classic Kurdish story by Hussein Arif
In this short story translated from Kurdish for the first time, a young man discovers that his discomfort was suppressing his true feelings.