The Sea That Binds and Divides: Our Mediterranean
Iason Athanasiadis on the cities of the Mediterranean and Levant and the exceptionalism that has diminished our shared cosmopolitan future.
TMR Issues
Iraq and the Arab World on the Edge of the Abyss
Osama Esber interviews an Iraqi environmental writer on his book Guardians of the Water and the future of water in the region.
Trembling Landscapes: Between Reality and Fiction: Eleven Artists from the Middle East*
Landscape is a charged notion in the Middle East—even the geographical term Middle East is not neutral, but Eurocentric and has its origin in colonialism. Co-curator Nat Muller explains.
The Mysteries of Translation in “Stranger Fictions”
Europe is the center of the world and has the literature to prove it. Or is it? Arabic and comparative literature scholar Rebecca C. Johnson makes a different argument in Stranger Fictions.
Freedom is femininity: Faraj Bayrakdar
18 years in the making, this winter Upset Press will publish a new volume of poems by former Syrian political prisoner and cause célèbre Faraj Bayrakdar.
You Drive Me Crazy, from “Bride of the Sea”
In this debut novel Eman Quotah practically delivers an epic as she writes about a Saudi family, torn between Arab and American identities and culture clashes.
Hassan Blasim’s “God 99”
God 99 blurs the boundaries between fiction and autobiography, reportage and the novel. It blends the fantastic with the everyday to explore themes of exile, humanity, art and philosophy.
Children of the Ghetto, My Name Is Adam
With Children of the Ghetto, My Name is Adam, a lyrical story about Palestine's 1948 exodus, Elias Khoury continues his exploration of the 20th century tragedy.
History of Tehran: What Lies Beneath
One of Iran's most venerable journalists and editors gives us an insider's history of one of the world's great if lesser-known cities.
Algiers, Algeria in the novel “Our Riches”
Kaouther Adimi's historical novel departs from a famous Algerian bookstore with a connection to Albert Camus and opens a window onto Algerian independence, French colonialism and the literary voices coming out of the Maghreb.
Shahla Ujayli’s “Summer With the Enemy”
War-torn Syria isn't just about headlines. In this new novel from Shahla Ujayli, the country comes alive as seen through the eyes of three women from Raqqa.
Shahla Ujayli’s “Summer With the Enemy”
War-torn Syria isn’t just about headlines. In this new novel from Shahla Ujayli, the country comes alive as seen through the eyes of three women from Raqqa.
An Outsider’s Long Goodbye
I love Beirut. I've lived there for longer than I've lived anywhere else on earth. But what happened in Beirut on August 4th is profoundly not my story.
Wajdi Mouawad, Just the Playwright for Our Dystopian World
Wajdi Mouawad has shaken Western theatre out of its rigid rules, bringing a dream-infused approach, odes to childhood's energy and a sense of adventure, rooted in his Lebanese culture and fascination for great Greek tragedies.
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?