Stories From The Markaz, Stories From the Center
TMR's literary editor introduces the 2023 double summer literary issue.
If pictures are worth a thousand words then short stories are worth a thousand-and-one. The Markaz Review’s double 2023 summer literary issue features short stories, memoir, plays, a graphic novel, and creative nonfiction, some of which appears in English for the first time, translated from Arabic or Persian, with wide-ranging themes, from from domestic abuse in Egypt to multiracial relationships in London and queer life in Beirut.
TMR's literary editor introduces the 2023 double summer literary issue.
A moving testimony to life, death, and the human condition by an Egyptian journalist who was blessed, and cursed.
Away from prying eyes, two lonely people pass time together under the state of emergency that has become Iran.
A small town couple have a brutally honest conversation about marriage in light of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.
Can a man who loves a woman prove his mettle by taking proper care of a cactus that stings him with its spines?
A shrewd businesswoman runs a matchmaking agency in Amman that finds brides for male clients based on a virginity scale.
In Ola Mustapha's new story, a man falls for the seduction of a film and it becomes the blueprint for love, life, and even death.
After her controlling husband dies, a wealthy woman obsesses over the neighborhood crows until her maid decides to take matters into her own hands.
Aliyeh Ataei's new story centers on a young woman exploring herself as a writer while choosing life in Paris.
Deborah Kapchan's introspection on belonging and faith on attending the first officially recognized Jewish wedding in the United Arab Emirates.
An Afghan refugee, survivor of a shipwreck, washes up on the shores of southern France and applies for asylum in Montpellier.
Omid Arabian recounts the legend of the serpent king from Ferdowsi's epic "Shāhnameh," exploring human psychology and the roots of tyranny.
In MK Harb's latest story, a man steps out of his home in Beirut after two years of living in isolation to a life-changing encounter.
Nestled in the old Arab quarter of Granada lies a house with an exceptional Morisco history, the Carmen Aben Humeya.
In Salar Abdoh’s new short story, Iranian militias return from war to a life and country to which they have difficulty adjusting.