For Our 50th Issue, Writers Reflect on Going Home
In the 50th issue of The Markaz Review, diverse writers explore the return home in creative nonfiction, fiction excerpts and prose poems.
Iran
Leaving Abdoh, Finding Chamran
Salar Abdoh reflects on returning to Iran, burdened by injustice and a desire to reconnect with a culture that has normalized disinformation.
Looking for a Job, Living and Dying in Iran: The Logistics of Going Back
Not even escalating tensions between Israel and Iran could stop one wayward Iranian from returning home to see his father one last time.
Love and Resistance in Online Persian Dating Shows
From blindfolding potential dates to threating them with cockroaches, Iranian YouTube dating game shows go viral and the regime takes action.
Mostafa Nodeh: Featured Artist Interview
Shooting in black and white with a minimalist approach, Iranian photographer Mostafa Nodeh transcends boundaries of identity and time.
My Favorite Cake, Iranian Cinema’s Bittersweet Ode to Love
Karim Goury reviews the Iranian film, "My Favorite Cake," a celebration of love in the twilight of life, in a society where prohibition and surveillance reign.
In Killing Gilda Yahya Gharagozlou Tells an Intriguing Iranian Tale
A review of a book that offers a portrait of a royal dynasty whose decline has significantly shaped the modern world.
The Editor’s Letter Following the US 2024 Presidential Election
The Markaz Review responds to the results of the 2024 US presidential election, in which Donald Trump prevailed over Kamala Harris.
The Felines that Leave Us, and the Humans that Left
An Iranian writer and translator in the heart of Tehran unexpectedly becomes a cat woman, attached to her pets well into adulthood.
Freedom is a Combat Sport: On Tatami
Karim Goury reviews "Tatami," a sports combat film depicting the conflict between suppressive male law and individual female empowerment.
A Year of War Without End
In the guise of an editorial, senior editor Lina Mounzer struggles to find the words to describe the horror of the past year, and hopelessness as we confront endless war.
Hafez, Iran’s Revered Poet, trans. Erfan Mojib & Gary Gach
Translators Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach present poetry from Hafez, Iran's celebrated 14th century Persian lyric poet.
“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 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.
Three Poems by Somaia Ramish
Somaia Ramish's poems, originally in Persian, decry violence against women, underage or forced marriage, poverty and the impact of extremism and war.