TMR 33
Stories from The Markaz
TMR Issue 33 – 26 articles – 342 pages 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 33
- Editorial
Stories From The Markaz, Stories From the Center
TMR's literary editor introduces the 2023 double summer literary issue.
MORE FROM THIS ISSUE
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
A moving testimony to life, death, and the human condition by an Egyptian journalist who was blessed, and cursed.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY MOHAMED ABOELGHEIT
Arrival in the Dark—fiction from Alireza Iranmehr
Away from prying eyes, two lonely people pass time together under the state of emergency that has become Iran.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY ALIREZA IRANMEHR
“Here, Freedom”—fiction from Danial Haghighi
A small town couple have a brutally honest conversation about marriage in light of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY DANIAL HAGHIGHI
“The Cactus”—new fiction from Mohammed Al Naas
Can a man who loves a woman prove his mettle by taking proper care of a cactus that stings him with its spines?
2 JULY, 2023 • BY MOHAMMED ALNAAS
“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.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY NATASHA TYNES
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.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY OLA MUSTAPHA
Rich and Poor People—fiction by Farah Ahamed
After her controlling husband dies, a wealthy woman obsesses over the neighborhood crows until her maid decides to take matters into her own hands.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY FARAH AHAMED
Being Without Belonging: A Jewish Wedding in Abu Dhabi
Deborah Kapchan's introspection on belonging and faith on attending the first officially recognized Jewish wedding in the United Arab Emirates.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY DEBORAH KAPCHAN
“My Mother is a Tree”—a story by Aliyeh Ataei
Aliyeh Ataei's new story centers on a young woman exploring herself as a writer while choosing life in Paris.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY ALIYEH ATAEI
“The Afghan and the Persian”—a short story by Jordan Elgrably
An Afghan refugee, survivor of a shipwreck, washes up on the shores of southern France and applies for asylum in Montpellier.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY JORDAN ELGRABLY
“The City Within”—fiction from MK Harb
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.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY MK HARB
Zahhāk: An Etiology of Evil
Omid Arabian recounts the legend of the serpent king from Ferdowsi's epic "Shāhnameh," exploring human psychology and the roots of tyranny.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY OMID ARABIAN
Rebels of the Alpujarras: a House in Granada
Nestled in the old Arab quarter of Granada lies a house with an exceptional Morisco history, the Carmen Aben Humeya.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY DOREEN METZNER
“The Burden of Inheritance”—fiction from Mai Al-Nakib
In Mai Al-Nakib’s new short story, a woman makes a Herculean effort to preserve the memory and artwork of her late husband.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY MAI AL-NAKIB
“The Burden of Inheritance”—fiction from Mai Al-Nakib
In Mai Al-Nakib’s new short story, a woman makes a Herculean effort to preserve the memory and artwork of her late husband.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY MAI AL-NAKIB
In Shahrazad’s Hammam—fiction by Ahmed Awadalla
Ahmed Awadalla’s new story reveals sexual pleasure and doubt in a bathhouse in Beirut.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY AHMED AWADALLA
STAMP ME—a monologue by Yussef El Guindi
Yussef El Guindi explores an anxious traveler's mind racing with thoughts of what to say as he faces border and customs control.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY YUSSEF EL GUINDI
The Ship No One Wanted—a story by Hassan Abdulrazak
Can a crush on a teacher survive marriage, revolution, and a sinking, refugee dingy on the Mediterranean Sea?
2 JULY, 2023 • BY HASSAN ABDULRAZZAK
Inside the Giant Fish—excerpt from Rawand Issa’s graphic novel
In Rawand Issa's "Inside the Giant Fish," a girl looks for her lost memories on a beach that no longer exists.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY RAWAND ISSA
Naar, Are You illuminated?
A fiction that celebrates the indomitable spirit of women who embrace their agency.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY BINT MAGDALIYYA
“Nadira of Tlemcen”—fiction from Abdellah Taïa
Sometimes you have to escape everything you know in order to become yourself.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY ABDELLAH TAïA
Abortion Tale: On Our Ground
In Ghadeer Ahmed's latest story, three women with no abortion rights refuse to be victims of exploitation and blackmail.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY GHADEER AHMED
Hayat and the Rain—fiction from Mona Alshammari
The power of the imagination may not be enough to save a young girl’s hopes when faced with rural poverty.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY MONA AL-SHAMMARI
On Ice—fiction from Malu Halasa
In an excerpt from an unpublished novella by Malu Halasa, ice skating in the desert is more than just a sport.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY MALU HALASA
Tears from a Glass Eye—a story by Samira Azzam
Samira Azzam was a Palestinian short story writer whose work influenced her more famous successor, Ghassan Kanafani.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY SAMIRA AZZAM
Genesis and East Cairo—fiction from Shady Lewis Botros
In this excerpt from Shady Lewis Botros' latest novel, a child’s innocent counting game masks a disturbing reality.
2 JULY, 2023 • BY SHADY LEWIS BOTROS