Literature and Arts from the Center of the World
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.
Beirut-based graphic artists Lina Ghaibeh and George "Jad" Khoury each recount what happened on the 4th of August, 2020, a day that shall live in infamy as far as Lebanon's leaders are concerned. But the people will, at the end of the day, triumph.
Overcome by the staggering violence of the explosion that ravaged Beirut in August, Paris-based playwright and director Wajdi Mouawad suggests that a world public forum must condemn Lebanon's ruling class.
The Chileans hold up a paradoxical mirror to us: they show us the worst of ourselves (the carelessness of our institutions and the contempt for the living that characterizes our addiction to the tragic) and the path to follow: respect for life until its last breath.
Maalouf draws a line from pivotal years in Middle Eastern history to some of the most pressing dilemmas currently facing humanity.
I am waiting for the Tunisian American writer Leila Chatti to tell me, in her own words, in her debut collection of poetry, Deluge, about women in Islam, but she is telling me about blood instead.