“The Social Media Kids”—a short story by Qais Akbar Omar
In Qais Akbar Omar’s short story, a surprise homecoming threatens to upend the lives of a 14-year-old and her independent mother in Kabul.
marriage
“Frida Kahlo’s Mustache”—flash fiction from Abdullah Nasser
In this flash fiction by Abdullah Nasser, a couple struggling to conceive undergoes a transformation that changes everything.
Love Across Borders—on Romance, Restrictions and Happy Endings
Lina Mounzer reviews the new book by Anna Lekas Miller that gathers stories of love- and border-challenged couples.
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.
Off to War—A Marriage on the Brink
Antony Loewenstein reviews the latest book from veteran war reporter Anjan Sundaram, whose work may have cost him his marriage.
“The Agency”—a story by Natasha Tynes
A shrewd businesswoman runs a matchmaking agency in Amman that finds brides for male clients based on a virginity scale.
We Saw Paris, Texas—a story by Ola Mustapha
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.
Fiction: “A Day in the Life of a Married Man”
A tale of conjugal love from the first complete story collection in English by Moroccan writer and cult feminist Malika Moustadraf, translated by Alice Guthrie.
Flash Fiction: “A Wife’s Diary”
In this flash fiction translated from Arabic, a woman poet finds herself at first thwarted by her possessive husband, then overshadowed when he decides to compete with her.
Fadi Zaghmout’s banned-in-Jordan “Laila”: a TMR Valentine
In this excerpt of the banned Jordanian novel "Laila," introduced by Rana Asfour and translated by Hajer Almosleh, readers get a sense of Fadi Zaghmout's prose and purpose.