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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20241206T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20241207T210000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20241011T090245Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241011T090545Z
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SUMMARY:Festival ADAB 2024 Paris
DESCRIPTION:Adab signifie littérature en arabe et s’écrit ادب. Les mots turc (edebiyat) et persan (adabiyat) pour dire littérature sont des dérivés d’adab\, symbole de la porosité des langues et des mots voyageurs\, du Maghreb au Moyen-Orient. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAdab est un festival littéraire dédié aux nouvelles écritures venues du Maghreb et du Moyen-Orient et à la nouvelle génération d’écrivain-e-s de la région\, tout en rendant hommage aux grandes plumes des dernières décennies. Depuis 2011\, le monde arabe et le Moyen-Orient ont connu d’intenses bouleversements sociaux et politiques\, qui se sont exprimés à travers une production culturelle renouvelée dans les pays de la région mais également dans les diasporas d’Europe. Ce sont ces nouvelles voix que nous vous donnerons à entendre durant deux jours à la Maison de la Poésie. \nPour cette deuxième édition\, le public découvrira une série de rencontres différentes\, tantôt individuelles avec des auteurs\, tantôt sous forme de dialogue entre écrivains explorant des thèmes socio-politiques contemporains. Par ailleurs\, le festival célèbrera la pluralité des genres littéraires\, mettant en lumière le roman et la bande dessinée\, mais aussi l’essai et d’autres formes d’écriture académique. Les moments dédiés à la littérature seront enrichis par des ateliers d’écriture adaptés à différents publics\, jeunes et adultes.
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/festival-adab-2024-paris/
LOCATION:Maison de la poésie\, Passage Molière\, 157 rue Saint-Martin\, Paris\, 75003\, France
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Festival-adab-24.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20241213T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20241213T190000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20241127T145702Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241127T145750Z
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SUMMARY:ABDELLAH TAÏA : UNE CONVERSATION
DESCRIPTION:Rencontre littéraire présentée par The Markaz Review avec le soutien de la Ville de Montpellier. \nRejoignez-nous pour cette dernière rencontre littéraire de l’année avec un des écrivains marocains les plus passionnants de sa génération\, Abdellah Taïa qui nous parlera de son dernier roman Le Bastion des Larmes\, publié aux éditions Julliard. Le livre a déjà remporté le Prix Décembre et le Prix de la Langue Française 2024. \nAbdellah Taïa est né à Rabat (Maroc) en 1973 et partage son temps entre Paris et le Maroc. Il a publié aux Éditions du Seuil plusieurs romans\, traduits dans de nombreuses langues\, notamment Une mélancolie arabe\, Le Jour du roi (Prix de Flore 2010) et Vivre à ta lumière. \nUne rencontre organisée en partenariat avec la librairie Fiers de Lettres et la complicité de la Comédie du livre.
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/abdellah-taia-une-conversation/
LOCATION:Médiathèque Émile Zola Montpellier\, 218 boulevard de l'Aéroport international\, Montpellier\, 34000\, France
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/AT-Final-.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20241218T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20241218T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20241127T160907Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241128T145344Z
UID:10000071-1734548400-1734552000@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:Roundtable Discussion: World Arabic Language Day
DESCRIPTION:.في اليوم العالمي للغة العربية، يسر المركز بالعربي دعوتكم إلى مائدة مستديرة باللغة العربية لأول مرة \nيشارك في المائدة الكاتب والصحفي المصري أحمد ناجي، حيث سيناقش سياسات إنتاج العربية الفصحى من القرن التاسع عشر وحتى عصر الذكاء الإصطناعي. كما تشارك الكتابة والروائية المصرية نورا ناجي، حيث ستناقش تأثير العوامل الثقافية والاجتماعية على تشكيل أسلوب\n.الكاتبات، وإلى أي مدى تعبر اللغة عن خصوصية التجربة النسائية مقارنة بالأدب العام \n.يدير المائدة محمد ربيع، وهو كاتب ومحرر وشريك مؤسس في مكتبة خان الجنوب في برلين \n \nرد على الدعوة هنا \n \nOn the World Arabic Language Day\, The Markaz Bil Arabi is pleased to invite you to our first-ever roundtable in Arabic on Wednesday\, December 18th at 1pm EST/ 6pm UK/ 7pm CET. \nEgyptian writer and journalist Ahmed Naji will participate in the roundtable\, where he will discuss the policies of producing classical Arabic from the 19th century until the age of artificial intelligence. Egyptian writer and novelist Nora Nagi will also participate\, where she will discuss the impact of cultural and social factors on shaping the style of female writers\, and to what extent language expresses the specificity of the female experience compared to general literature. \nThe roundtable will be moderated by Mohammad Rabie\, TMR’s Arabic editor\, a novelist and founding partner of the Khan Aljanub Bookstore in Berlin. \nRSVP here
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/roundtable-discussion-world-arabic-language-day/
LOCATION:Online
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ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250124T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250205T170000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250114T113650Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250127T132135Z
UID:10000074-1737745200-1738774800@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:U.S. Book Tour: "Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader" with editors Malu Halasa\, Jordan Elgrably & Special Guests
DESCRIPTION:Mala Halasa & Jordan Elgrably on tour for their new anthology\, Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader\, from Seven Stories Press\, with special guests:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“A powerful and inspiring testament to the human spirit\, to the resilience of the Palestinian people\, and to their indomitable struggle for liberation.”\n—Nathan Thrall\, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Day in the Life of Abed Salama\n\n\n\n\nTour dates and locations:\n\n\n\nJan. 24\, 7 pm (Fri) Politics and Prose\, 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW\, Washington\, D.C. 20008\nJan. 30\, 5:15 pm (Thurs) Harvard\, Harvard Divinity School\, 45 Francis Ave\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138 RSVP Online\nJan 31\, 5:30 pm (Fri) University of Pennsylvania\, 3451 Walnut St\, Philadelphia\, PA 19104 (special guest Ahmad Almallah) More info\nFeb. 5\, 5-7 pm (Wed) NYU\, Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute\, 20 Cooper Square NYC 10003 (special guest Mosab Abu Toha & Lina Mounzer ) RSVP Online\n\n \nDonations are welcome to support The Markaz Review. \n_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAbout the book:\n \nAn anthology that celebrates the power of culture in Palestinian resistance\, with selections of memoir\, short stories\, essays\, book reviews\, personal narrative\, poetry\, and art. \nIncludes twenty-five black-and-white illustrations by Palestinian artists. \n\nThe Arabic word sumūd is often loosely translated as “steadfastness” or “standing fast.” It is\, above all\, a Palestinian cultural value of everyday perseverance in the face of Israeli occupation. Sumūd is both a personal and collective commitment; people determine their own lives\, despite the environment of constant oppressions imposed upon them. \nIn times of devastation\, poetry\, literature\, and art are the mediums through which oppressed peoples reveal cherished aspects of their existences and remain defiant in the fight for self-determination. Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader honors the Palestinian spirit and its power in the face of dispossession and war. When governments around the world enable the genocide of a people and the dilapidation of a sacred homeland\, the Palestinian people stand fast and resist. The fifty-eight contributions in this collection remind readers that just as love perseveres\, so do the Palestinians\, and their struggles and triumphs. \nThe essays\, stories\, poetry\, art and personal narrative collected in Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader is a rich riposte to those who would denigrate Palestinians’ aspirations for a homeland. It also serves as a timely reminder of culture’s power and importance during occupation and war. \n_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAbout the editors: \nMALU HALASA\, Literary Editor at The Markaz Review\, is a London-based writer and editor. Her latest book as editor is Woman Life Freedom: Voices and Art From the Women’s Protests in Iran (Saqi 2023). Her six previous co-edited anthologies include Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline\, with coedited with Zaher Omareen & Nawara Mahfoud; The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie: Intimacy and Design\, with Rana Salam; and the short series: Transit Beirut: New Writing and Images\, with Rosanne Khalaf\, and Transit Tehran: Young Iran and Its Inspirations\, with Maziar Bahari. She was managing editor of the Prince Claus Fund Library; a founding editor of Tank Magazine and Editor at Large for Portal 9. As a freelance journalist in London\, she has covered wide-ranging subjects\, from water as occupation in Israel/Palestine to Syrian comics during the present-day conflict. Her books\, exhibitions and lectures chart a changing Middle East. Malu Halasa’s debut novel\, Mother of All Pigs was reviewed by the New York Times as “a microcosmic portrait of … a patriarchal order in slow-motion decline.” \n \n \nJORDAN ELGRABLY is a Franco-American and Moroccan writer and translator\, whose stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in numerous anthologies and reviews\, including Apulée\, Salmagundi\, and The Paris Review. Editor-in-chief and founder of The Markaz Review\, he is the cofounder and former director of the Levantine Cultural Center/The Markaz in Los Angeles (2001–2020). He is the editor of Stories from the Center of the World: New Middle East Fiction (City Lights 2024) and co-editor with Malu Halasa of Sumūd: a New Palestinian Reader (Seven Stories Press 2024). Based in Montpellier\, France and California.
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/u-s-book-tour-sumud-a-new-palestinian-reader-with-editors-jordan-elgrably-malu-halasa-and-special-guests/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FINAL.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250125T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250125T193000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250116T095401Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250116T095401Z
UID:10000075-1737829800-1737833400@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:+ DE FIRN – Nuit noire de la lecture
DESCRIPTION:Événement proposé et labellisé dans le cadre des Nuits de la Lecture 2025. \nLecture performée autour du roman Nul ennemi comme un frère (Agullo)\, premier tome d’une trilogie sur la guerre civile au Liban\, par et avec l’auteur Frédéric Paulin\, accompagné au tarhu par le musicien Nicolas Beck et en vidéo par Géraldine Giordano. \nAvec la participation exceptionnelle de l’acteur et metteur en scène libanais Roger Assaf (Lion d’Or Biennale de théâtre de Venise 2008). \n18h30 – Chapelle Saint-Jacques\, rue Frédéric-Mistral \nEntrée libre sur réservation au 04 67 18 54 92 / culture@frontignan.fr \nEn savoir plus: https://www.frontignan.fr/evenement/de-firn-nuit-noire-de-la-lecture/
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/de-firn-nuit-noire-de-la-lecture/
LOCATION:Chapelle Saint-Jacques\, Rue Frédéric Mistral\, Frontignan la Peyrade\, 34110
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/250109A_A3_NUIT_LECTURE_FREDERIC-PAULIN_RE01.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Festival international du roman noir (FIRN)":MAILTO:culture@frontignan.fr
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250126T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250126T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250108T122945Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250108T122945Z
UID:10000073-1737918000-1737921600@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Book Club discusses "Granada: the complete trilogy" by Radwa Ashour with translator Kay Heikkinen
DESCRIPTION:RSVP here \nJoin us on Sunday\, January 26th at 1pm EST/ 6pm UK/ 7pm CET to discuss “Granada: the complete trilogy” by Radwa Ashour with translator\, Kay Heikkinen. \n_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAbout the book: \nNamed a top literary work of the 20th century by the Arab Writers’ Union\, this multigenerational epic is set at the collapse of Muslim rule in Medieval Spain\, available now for the first time in a new\, complete translation. \nSet in 1492\, Granada is about an ordinary Muslim family who must survive the Christian conquest of Arabic Spain. As the Castilian forces enter Granada\, Muslims are slowly stripped of their rights: confiscations\, forced conversions\, and expulsions. \nAs the triumphant new masters of Granada burn books\, Abu Jaafar\, a bookseller by trade\, quietly moves his rich library out of town\, while preparing for the marriage of his granddaughter Saleema to his apprentice Saad. The tangled lives of Abu Jaafar’s family\, his descendants\, and his community bear witness to the vanquishing of Muslim life. \nRadwa Ashour’s sweeping trilogy\, set over one hundred years against the backdrop of the great historical events of 16th century Europe\, tells the story of those who remained in Andalusia\, of the individuals who struggled to maintain faith and hope for a possible future. It narrates a community’s effort to comprehend what has happened to them\, of their valiant but ultimately unsuccessful efforts to resist the destruction of their identity. \nPublished by Hoopoe\, translated by Kay Heikkinen\, 2024. \n_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAbout the author and translator: \nRadwa Ashour (1946–2014) is a highly acclaimed Egyptian writer and scholar. She is the author of more than fifteen works of fiction\, memoir\, and criticism\, including Granada (AUC Press\, 2008) and The Woman from Tantoura (AUC Press\, 2014)\, and was a recipient of the Constantine Cavafy Prize for Literature and the prestigious Owais Prize for Fiction. \nKay Heikkinen is a translator and academic who holds a PhD from Harvard University. She was previously Ibn Rushd Lecturer of Arabic at the University of Chicago. Among other books\, she has translated Naguib Mahfouz’s In the Time of Love\, Radwa Ashour’s The Woman From Tantoura\, and Huzama Habayeb’s Velvet\, for which she was awarded the 2020 Saif-Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation. She lives in Seattle\, Washington. \nRSVP here
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/tmr-book-club-discusses-granada-the-complete-trilogy-by-radwa-ashour-with-translator-kay-heikkinen/
LOCATION:Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Zoom-wide-banner.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Paris:20250212T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Paris:20250212T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250128T150341Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250128T152020Z
UID:10000076-1739386800-1739390400@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:Roundtable Discussion: Syria’s Cultural Renaissance — Boom or Bust?
DESCRIPTION:RSVP here \nThe creative outburst of the 2011 revolution broke through Syria’s “kingdom of silence” and revealed new art\, voices\, and writing never before seen or heard. As the country emerges from a 53-year-long dictatorship\, can culture heal old wounds? Will creative minds envision the building blocks needed for the new Syria? Some say\, the current challenges are insurmountable. Explore possibilities with BBC correspondent and film director Lina Sinjab\, filmmaker Yasmin Fedda\, and fiction writer Odai Al Zoubi. Moderated by Malu Halasa\, TMR’s Literary Editor and co-author of Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline (2014). \nThis roundtable discussion will take place online on Wednesday\, February 12th at 1pm EST/ 6pm UK/ 7pm CET. \nThis online event is free and open to the public. Donations are welcome to support The Markaz Review. \nRSVP here \n_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAbout the speakers: \nOdai Al Zoubi is a Syrian short-story writer\, essayist\, and translator. His short story collections include Nisf ibtisma [A Half Smile] (Mamdouh Adwan Publishing House\, 2022); Kitab alhikma wa alsathaja [The Book of Wisdom and Naïveté] (Mamdouh Adwan Publishing House\, 2019)\, Nawafeth [Windows] (Al Mutawassit Publications\, 2017)\, and Al-Samat [Silence] (Al Mutawassit Publications\, 2015). He is also the author of collected essays: Qindl om hashim almafqūd [Om Hashim’s Lost Lamp] (Syrian League for Citizenship\, 2016). Al Zoubi was awarded a 2023 creative and critical writings grant from AFAC (Arab Fund for Arts and Culture) for Empty Heavens\, short stories about everyday Syrians in their countries of refuge. His short story “Ten-Armed Gods” was published in The Markaz Review: https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/ten-armed-gods-a-short-story-by-odai-al-zoubi/ \n \nYasmin Fedda is a Palestinian cultural practitioner\, best known as a filmmaker. Her work is multi-award winning and has been widely screened and exhibited across the world at festivals\, on TV\, and in galleries. Ayouni (2020) is her most recent Syria-focused film about people forcibly disappeared\, focusing on Bassel Safadi and Paolo Dall’Oglio. Yasmin is Senior Lecturer in Film at Queen Mary University\, London. Yasmin Fedda’s essay\, with Dan Gorman\, “Three Nights in Free Syria” was published in The Markaz Review: https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/three-nights-in-free-syria/ \n \nLina Sinjab is an independent filmmaker and a BBC Middle East correspondent based in Beirut. She also contributes to several international media outlets and is a frequent contributor to Syria From Within\, a Chatham House policy initiative. Sinjab has covered the Syrian uprising extensively since it began in 2011. She produced and directed the film Madness in Aleppo (2019)\, about the siege of the city. In 2014 and 2016\, Sinjab covered the Syria peace talks in Geneva as the BBC’s world affairs reporter. She directed the film Suryyat (2013)\, on Syrian women during the uprising. In 2013\, Sinjab won the International Media Cutting Edge Award for her coverage of Syria. \n \nMalu Halasa\, Literary Editor at The Markaz Review\, is a Jordanian Filipina American writer and editor. Her latest edited anthologies are Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader with Jordan Elgrably (Seven Stories Press\, 2025) and Woman Life Freedom: Voices and Art From the Women’s Protests in Iran (Saqi Books\, 2023). Previous co-edited anthologies include: Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline (Saqi Books\, 2014); The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie: Intimacy and Design (Chronicle Books\, 2008); Kaveh Golestan: Recording the Truth in Iran (Hatje Cantz\, 2005); and the short series: Transit Beirut: New Writing and Images\, with Rosanne Khalaf (Saqi Books\, 2004)\, and Transit Tehran: Young Iran and Its Inspirations\, with Maziar Bahari\, (Garnet Press\, 2008). She was managing editor of the Prince Claus Fund Library\, in Amsterdam; Editor at Large for Portal 9\, in Beirut\, and a founding editor of Tank Magazine\, in London. She has written for The Guardian\, Financial Times and Times Literary Supplement. Her debut novel\, Mother of All Pigs (Unnamed Press\, 2017)\, was described as: “a microcosmic portrait of … a patriarchal order in slow-motion decline” by the New York Times. Her writing\, edited anthologies\, and exhibitions chart a changing Middle East.
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/roundtable-discussion-syrias-cultural-renaissance-boom-or-bust/
LOCATION:Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2.12-Roundtable-Discussion-Syrias-Cultural-Renaissance-Zoom-wide.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250217T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250217T210000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250107T135044Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250130T144403Z
UID:10000072-1739818800-1739826000@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:Shakespeare in Arabic: Translating Western Theatre Classics
DESCRIPTION:The Markaz Review is proud to co-sponsor this event on “Shakespeare in Arabic” organized by Columbia Global Paris Center and the American University of Beirut on Monday\, February 17th at 7pm in Paris. \nThis event will explore Arabic adaptation of Western theatre classics from Shakespeare to Brecht\, culminating in a showcase of a bilingual Arabic-English adaptation of Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida. \nBritish theater producer Georgina Van Welie\, along with Lebanese theater makers Lucian Bourjeilly and Caroline Hatem\, will discuss their experiences of Arabic adaptations of Western classics and creating work both in the region and internationally. \nThe discussion will be followed by an extract from Georgina Van Welie’s Arabic/English adaptation in development of Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida\, translated by Ghareeb Iskander\, with video by Syrian artist Bissane Al Charif. \nTo learn more and register: https://globalcenters.columbia.edu/events/shakespeare-arabic
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/shakespeare-in-arabic/
LOCATION:Reid Hall: Grande Salle Ginsberg-LeClerc\, 4 rue de Chevreuse\, Paris\, France
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/https___cdn.evbuc_.com_images_943772843_137731973864_1_original.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Paris:20250223T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Paris:20250223T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250129T104448Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250129T104542Z
UID:10000077-1740337200-1740340800@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Book Club Discusses "Too Soon: a novel" with author Betty Shamieh
DESCRIPTION:RSVP here \nJoin us on Sunday\, February 23rd at 1pm EST/ 6pm UK/ 7pm CET to discuss “Too Soon: a novel” with author Betty Shamieh. \n______________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAbout the book: \nThirty-five-year-old Arabella\, a New York theatre director whose dating and career prospects are drying up\, is offered an opportunity to direct a risqué cross-dressing interpretation of a Shakespeare classic—that might garner international attention—in the West Bank. Her mother\, Naya\, and grandmother\, Zoya\, hatch a plot to match her with Aziz\, a Palestinian American doctor volunteering in Gaza. Arabella agrees to meet Aziz\, since her growing feelings for Yoav\, a celebrated Israeli American theatre designer\, seem destined for disaster… \nWith biting hilarity\, “Too Soon” introduces us to a trio of bold and unforgettable voices. This dramatic saga follows one family’s epic journey fleeing war-torn Jaffa in 1948\, chasing the American Dream in Detroit and San Francisco in the sixties and seventies\, hustling in the New York theatre scene post-9/11\, and daring to stage a show in Palestine in 2012. Upon learning one of them is living on borrowed time\, the three women fight to live\, make art\, and love on their own terms. A funny\, sexy\, and heart-wrenching literary debut\, “Too Soon” illuminates our shared history and asks\, how can we set ourselves free? \nPublished by Simon & Schuster\, 2025. \n______________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAbout the author: \nBetty Shamieh is a Palestinian American writer and the author of fifteen plays. She is the playwright-in-residence at the Classical Theatre of Harlem. Her six New York play premieres include the sold-out off-Broadway runs of Roar and Malvolio\, a sequel to Twelfth Night\, which were both New York Times Critic’s Picks. Shamieh was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and named a UNESCO Young Artist for Intercultural Dialogue. She is a founding artistic director of The Semitic Root\, a collective that supports innovative theatre cocreated by Arab and Jewish Americans. A graduate of Harvard College and the Yale School of Drama\, she lives with her family in San Francisco. \n______________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nThis online event is free and open to the public. Donations are welcome to support The Markaz Review. \nRSVP here
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/tmr-book-club-discusses-too-soon-a-novel-with-author-betty-shamieh/
LOCATION:Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Zoom-wide-banner-7.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250227T183000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250227T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250218T175241Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250218T175241Z
UID:10000078-1740681000-1740688200@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:Book Reading: "Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader" at P21 Gallery London
DESCRIPTION:Book here \nWith readings and illustrated presentations\, this book launch celebrates the UK publication of Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader\, an anthology that celebrates the power of culture in Palestinian resistance\, with selections of memoir\, short stories\, essays\, book reviews\, personal narrative\, poetry\, and art. The Arabic word sumūd is often loosely translated as “steadfastness” or “standing fast.” It is\, above all\, a Palestinian cultural value of everyday perseverance in the face of Israeli occupation. Sumūd is both a personal and collective commitment; people determine their own lives\, despite the environment of constant oppressions imposed upon them. In times of devastation\, poetry\, literature\, and art are the mediums through which oppressed peoples reveal cherished aspects of their existences and remain defiant in the fight for self-determination. Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader honors the Palestinian spirit and its power in the face of dispossession and war. When governments around the world enable the genocide of a people and the dilapidation of a sacred homeland\, the Palestinian people stand fast and resist. The fifty-eight contributions in this collection remind readers that just as love perseveres\, so do the Palestinians\, and their struggles and triumphs. \nThis anthology spans the 20th and 21st centuries of Palestinian cultural history\, and highlights writing from 2021–2024. The collection of writing and art includes: Dispatches from Hossam Madhoun\, co-founder of Gaza’s Theatre for Everybody\, as he survives the post-October 2023 war on Gaza; Novelist Ahmed Masoud with “Application 39\,” a sci-fi short story about a Dystopian bid for the Olympics; Sara Roy and Ivar Ekeland with “The New Politics of Exclusion: Gaza as Prologue\,” an analysis of Israel’s divide and conquer policies of fragmentation; Historian Ilan Pappé with a review of Tahrir Hamdi’s book\, Imagining Palestine\, in which he unpacks the relationship between culture and resistance; Essayist Lina Mounzer with “Palestine and the Unspeakable\,” an offering on the language used to dehumanize Palestinians; And poetry by the next generation of poets who have inherited the mantle of the late Mahmoud Darwish (1941–2008). Sumūd also includes twenty-five black-and-white illustrations by Palestinian artists. \nSumūd: a New Palestinian Reader is published by 7 Stories Press. Books will be available on sale at the event. \nThis event is hosted by P21 Gallery with support from Arts Canteen. \n_________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAbout the speakers: \nMalu Halasa is co-editor of Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader and Literary Editor at The Markaz Review. \nJordan Elgrably is co-editor of Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader and Editor-in-Chief of The Markaz Review. \nNadine Aranki is the art editor of Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader and West Bank curator and writer. \nSaeed Taji Farouky is a contributor to Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader\, filmmaker\, journalist and educator/lecturer. \nBook here
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/book-reading-sumud-a-new-palestinian-reader-at-p21-gallery-london/
LOCATION:P21 Gallery\, 21-27 Chalton Street\, London\, NW1 1JD\, United Kingdom
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ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Paris:20250330T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Paris:20250330T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250323T152712Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250323T152850Z
UID:10000079-1743361200-1743364800@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Book Club Discusses “Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader” with the editors and special guests
DESCRIPTION:RSVP here \nJoin us to discuss Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader online with special guest speakers Zeina Azzam and Saleem Haddad on Sunday\, March 30th at 1 pm Eastern/19:00 CET. Moderated by co-editors Malu Halasa and Jordan Elgrably. \nWhen governments around the world enable the genocide of a people and the dilapidation of a sacred homeland\, the Palestinian people stand fast and resist. The fifty-eight contributions in this collection remind readers that just as love perseveres\, so do the Palestinians\, and their struggles and triumphs. \nSumūd stands for a rich riposte to those who would denigrate Palestinians’ aspirations for a homeland. It also serves as a timely reminder of culture’s power and importance during occupation and war. This anthology spans the 20th and 21st centuries of Palestinian cultural history\, and highlights writing from 2021–2024. It also includes twenty-five black-and-white illustrations by Palestinian artists. Published by Seven Stories Press\, 2025. \nThis event is online and free to the public. Donations are welcome to support The Markaz Review. \nRSVP here \n____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAbout the speakers: \nMalu Halasa is a Jordanian Filipina American writer and editor\, Literary Editor at The Markaz Review\, and co-editor of Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader (Seven Stories Press\, 2025). Her latest edited anthology is Woman Life Freedom: Voices and Art From the Women’s Protests in Iran (Saqi Books\, 2023). \nJordan Elgrably is a Franco-American and Moroccan writer and translator\, whose stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in numerous anthologies and reviews\, including Apulée\, Salmagundi\, and The Paris Review. Editor-in-chief and founder of The Markaz Review. His latest edited anthology is Stories from the Center of the World: New Middle East Fiction (City Lights\, 2024). \nZeina Azzam is a Palestinian American poet\, writer\, editor\, and community activist. Her books include the collection of poems Some Things Never Leave You (Tiger Bark Press\, 2023) and the chapbook Bayna Bayna\, In-Between (The Poetry Box\, 2021). She is the poet laureate of the City of Alexandria\, Virginia\, for 2022–2025. \nSaleem Haddad is a novelist and writer. His critically acclaimed novel\, Guapa (Europa Editions\, 2016) was awarded both a Stonewall Honour and the 2017 Polari First Book Prize. He also writes nonfiction and short stories\, and his story for the Palestinian sci-fi anthology Palestine +100 (Comma Press\, 2019) was selected as one of the best sci-fi stories of 2019. His directorial debut\, Marco\, premiered in 2019 and was nominated for the 2019 Iris Prize for Best British Short Film. He is currently based in Lisbon\, with roots in London\, Amman\, Beirut\, and Palestine.
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/tmr-book-club-discusses-sumud-a-new-palestinian-reader-with-the-editors-and-special-guests/
LOCATION:Online
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/March-2025-Book-Club-Zoom-wide-banner.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250427T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250427T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250410T141959Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250410T141959Z
UID:10000080-1745780400-1745784000@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Book Club Discusses Youssef Rakha's "The Dissenters"
DESCRIPTION:RSVP now \nThis month\, the TMR Book Club will be discussing Youssef Rakha’s debut novel\, The Dissenters. We will meet online on Sunday\, April 27th at 1pm EST/6pm UK/7pm CET. \n\nABOUT THE BOOK: \nHallucinatory\, erotic\, and stylish\, The Dissenters is a transcendent portrait of a woman and an era that explodes our ideas of faith\, gender roles\, freedom\, and political agency. \nAmna\, Nimo\, Mouna—these are all names for a single Egyptian woman whose life has mirrored that of her country. After her death in 2015\, her son\, Nour\, ascends to the attic of their house where he glimpses her in a series of ever more immersive visions: Amna as a young woman forced into an arranged marriage in the 1950s\, a coquettish student of French known to her confidants as Nimo\, a self-made divorcee and a lover\, a “pious mama” donning her hijab\, and\, finally\, a feminist activist during the Arab Spring. Charged and renewed by these visions of a woman he has always known as Mouna\, Nour begins a series of fevered letters to his sister—who has been estranged from Mouna and from Egypt for many years—in an attempt to reconcile what both siblings know about this mercurial woman\, their country\, and the possibility for true revolution after so much has failed. \nPublished by Graywolf Press\, 2025. \n \nABOUT THE AUTHOR: \nYoussef Rakha is an Egyptian novelist\, poet and critic working in both Arabic and English. His short story collection\, Emissaries\, is out from Barakunan. His first novel The Dissenters\, is his first novel. He lives with his family in Cairo. \n\nThis online event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Learn about how you can support The Markaz Review. \nRSVP now
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/tmr-book-club-discusses-youssef-rakhas-the-dissenters/
LOCATION:Online
CATEGORIES:Author Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Zoom-wide-banner-11.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250516T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250516T180000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250501T155645Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250502T094557Z
UID:10000081-1747411200-1747418400@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:Jordan Elgrably à la Comédie du Livre
DESCRIPTION:Venez rencontrer le rédacteur en chef de The Markaz Review et découvrir ses derniers ouvrages imprimés\, « Stories from the Center of the World : New Middle East Fiction » et « Sumūd : A New Palestinian Reader » dans le cadre de la Comédie du Livre. Il présentera ses romans en anglais. Promenade de Peyrou. \nQUAND: \n\nle 16 mai entre 16h00 et 18h00\nle 17 mai entre 11h00 et 12h00\n\nOÙ: au stand Grain des Mots\, Promenade de Peyrou. \nOn a hâte de vous y retrouver ! \nEn savoir plus sur la Comédie du Livre : https://www.10joursenmai.fr/ \nÀ propos de l’auteur : \nJordan Elgrably est un écrivain et traducteur américain\, français et marocain dont les récits et la non-fiction créative ont été publiés dans de nombreuses anthologies et revues\, notamment Apulée\, Salmagundi et la Paris Review. Rédacteur en chef et fondateur de The Markaz Review\, il est cofondateur et ancien directeur du Levantine Cultural Center/The Markaz à Los Angeles (2001-2020). Il est l’éditeur de Stories From the Center of the World : New Middle East Fiction (City Lights\, 2024)\, et co-éditeur avec Malu Halasa de Sumūd : a New Palestinian Reader (Seven Stories\, 2025). Basé à Montpellier\, en France\, et en Californie\, il écrit sur Twitter @JordanElgrably. \n___ ___ ___ \nJordan Elgrably at the Comédie du Livre \nCome and meet the editor of The Markaz Review and discover his latest books in print\, “Stories from the Center of the World: New Middle East Fiction” and “Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader” as part of the Comédie du Livre. He will be presenting his novels in English. \nWHEN: \n\nMay 16 between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm\nMay 17 between 11:00am and 12:00pm\n\nWHERE: at the Grain des Mots stand \nWe look forward to seeing you there! \nLearn more about the Comédie du Livre: https://www.10joursenmai.fr/ \nAbout the author: \nJordan Elgrably is an American\, French and Moroccan writer and translator whose stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in many anthologies and reviews\, including Apulée\, Salmagundi\, and the Paris Review. Editor-in-chief and founder of The Markaz Review\, he is the cofounder and former director of the Levantine Cultural Center/The Markaz in Los Angeles (2001–2020). He is the editor of Stories From the Center of the World: New Middle East Fiction (City Lights\, 2024)\, and co-editor with Malu Halasa of Sumūd: a New Palestinian Reader (Seven Stories\, 2025). Based in Montpellier\, France and California\, he tweets @JordanElgrably.
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/jordan-elgrably-a-la-comedie-du-livre/
LOCATION:Comédie du Livre\, Promenade du Peyrou\, Montpellier\, 34000\, France
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/5.16-Jordan-Elgrably-a-la-Comedie-du-Livre-1920-x-1080-px.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250522T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250522T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250509T115540Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250509T115709Z
UID:10000083-1747940400-1747944000@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:CAN YOU EVER GO HOME AGAIN? – A roundtable on TMR's RETURNING HOME
DESCRIPTION:RSVP now \nIn the 50th issue of The Markaz Review’s RETURNING HOME\, writers and artists reflect on whether we can really ever go home again. In “Home is Elsewhere: On the Fictions of Return\,” Mai Al-Nakib writes that her childhood home differed from her birthplace; she perceives home as more imaginary than real. In “A Kashmiri in Cashmere\,” Nafeesa Syeed hopes she’ll feel at home in a small Washington town east of Seattle\, named after her native region\, caught between India and Pakistan. And Gabriel Polley interviews British-Bahraini musician-composer Yazz Ahmed in “Arabic Jazz and Yazz Ahmed: A Music Between Homelands\,” on how Arabic jazz challenges negative stereotypes amid rising xenophobia in the West. The issue contains 14 stories\, looking at Sudanese creatives in Egypt\, young Palestinian citizens of Israel\, an Iraqi artist who goes home after living in the USA for 40 years\, and much more. \nJoin us on Thursday\, May 22nd at 1pm EST/ 6pm UK/ 7pm CET for a roundtable discussion on our 50th issue\, RETURNING HOME\, with writers Mai Al-Nakib\, Gabriel Polley and Nafeesa Syeed. Moderated by Lina Mounzer. \nThis online event is free but advance registration is required. Donations are welcome to support The Markaz Review. \n____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAbout the speakers: \nMai Al-Nakib is author of the novel\, An Unlasting Home and the award-winning collection of short stories\, The Hidden Light of Objects. As an associate professor\, she taught English and comparative literature at Kuwait University for twenty years. She now writes full time in Kuwait. \nGabriel Polley has a PhD in Palestine studies from the European Centre for Palestine Studies\, University of Exeter\, UK. He previously studied history of art and literature at the University of East Anglia\, and Palestine and Arabic studies at Birzeit University\, and taught in the occupied West Bank. He currently works in London in the translation and international development sectors. Palestine in the Victorian Age is his first book. \nNafeesa Syeed is a writer and editor who hails from Kashmir. She’s also a lecturer and associate research scholar at Yale. \nLina Mounzer (moderator) is the senior editor of The Markaz Review and a prominent essayist whose creative nonfiction has appeared widely\, including in The Baffler and the Paris Review\, among other publications. \n____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nRSVP now
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/can-you-ever-go-home-again-a-roundtable-on-tmrs-returning-home/
LOCATION:Online
CATEGORIES:Roundtable
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/5.22-TMR-50-Roundtable-Discussion-Zoom-wide.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250523
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250615
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250515T101641Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250515T101641Z
UID:10000084-1747958400-1749945599@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Exhibition: Art of the Palestinian Poster at P21 Gallery — Shubbak Festival
DESCRIPTION:An evocative exhibition showcases the resurgence of Palestinian political posters as powerful works of art and vital campaigning tools during the war on Gaza for Shubbak 2025. Curated by TMR’s literary editor Malu Halasa\, the collection includes anti-war works by the original members of New Vision collective — artists fundamental to the creation of Palestinian modern art Vera Tamari\, Sliman Mansour\, Tayseer Barakat\, and Nabil Anani — alongside contemporary posters by Gazan artist Hazem Harb\, popular Lebanese musician Khaled El Haber\, and Palestinian new generation poster-maker Haneen Nazzal\, among many others. \nASAD AZI (Palestinian\, B. 1955)\, "EKHTILAL\," 2023\, Acrylic on paper\, 75 x 55 cm BASHAR KHALAF \n(Palestinian\, B. 1991) \n\nGOD\, MAKE THIS HOUSE SAFE (2023) \nCollage on paper \n75 x 55 cm\n DYALA MOSHTAHA \n(Palestinian\, B. 1997) \n\nFREEDOM IN BLOOM (2023) \nFineArt archival paper\, 310 gsm \n75 x 55 cm | Edition of 10 (+AP)\n HASSAN MANASRAH \n(Palestinian\, B. 1980) \n\nPALESTINIAN WOMAN (2023) \nFineArt archival paper\, 310 gsm \n75 x 55 cm | Edition of 10 (+AP)\n HAZEM HARB \n(Palestinian\, B. 1980) \n\nTHEY ARE NOW STEALING YOUR SKIN (2024) Charcoal on paper \n75 x 55 cm\n HOSNI RADWAN \n(Palestinian\, B. 1955) \n\nALL RIGHTS NOT RESERVED - GAZA (2023) FineArt archival paper\, 310 gsm \n75 x 55 cm | Edition of 10 (+AP)\n KHALED EL HABER \n(Labanese\, B. 1956) \n\nWE ARE DOING FINE IN GAZA... WHAT ABOUT YOU?! (2024) FineArt archival paper\, 310 gsm \n75 x 55 cm | Edition of 10 (+AP)\n MOHAMMED JOHA \n(Palestinian\, B. 1978) \n\nSLEEPLESS (2024) \nAcrylic on paper \n75 x 55 cm\n NABIL ANANI \n(Palestinian\, B. 1943) \n\nSTOP THE GENOCIDE (2023) \nMixed media on paper \n75 x 55 cm\n SLIMAN MANSOUR \n(Palestinian\, B. 1947) \n\nDISTORTION (2023) \nFineArt archival paper\, 310 gsm \n75 x 55 cm | Edition of 5 (+AP)\n TAYSEER BARAKAT \n(Palestinian\, B. 1959) \n\nUNTITLED (2023) \nAcrylic and mixed media on paper \n75 x 55 cm\n \nThis collection of artful posters\, originally from the Zawyeh Gallery of Ramallah and Dubai and never before exhibited in the UK\, appear with posters for Palestine hacked into London bus shelters by the anonymous activist group Protest Stencil; the stark infographic posters by the decolonizing collective Visualizing Palestine; and posters that pro-Palestinian protestors downloaded from the internet\, printed\, and carried on demonstrations. An opening night event will take place on May 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm\, £5 admission (more information here). \nA poster roundtable discussion will also take place on June 11 at P21 Gallery (6:30-8:30 pm)\, with Palestinian artist Vera Tamari\, Visualizing Palestine’s Aline Batarseh\, West Bank curator Nadine Aranki\, and Professor Dina Matar from SOAS Centre of Palestinian Studies\, will discuss art in Palestinian resistance and the political and aesthetic impact of Palestinian political posters. \nLearn more about this exhibition \nThe Art of the Palestinian Poster exhibition is part of the London-wide Shubbak: A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture festival. Shubbak Festival (meaning ‘window’ in Arabic) is Europe’s largest biennial celebration of contemporary Arab and SWANA (South West Asian & North African) arts and culture. Taking place from 23 May to 15 June 2025\, the festival will showcase bold\, innovative\, and culturally authentic works across visual arts\, film\, music\, theatre\, dance\, literature\, and debates—connecting audiences in London\, across the UK\, and beyond. \n
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/tmr-exhibition-art-of-the-palestinian-poster-at-p21-gallery-shubbak-festival/
LOCATION:P21 Gallery\, 21-27 Chalton Street\, London\, NW1 1JD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Art Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/5.23-Art-of-the-Palestinian-Poster-Exhibition-Shubbak-Festival-1920-x-1080-px.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250525T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250525T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250507T120458Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250511T160842Z
UID:10000082-1748199600-1748203200@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Book Club Discusses Zahran Alqasmi's "Honey Hunger" with translator Marilyn Booth
DESCRIPTION:RSVP here to participate \nThis month\, join us online for a special discussion on Zahran Alqasmi’s “Honey Hunger” with translator Marilyn Booth. We meet online on Sunday\, May 25th at 1pm EST/ 6pm UK/ 7pm CET. Moderated by TMR’s Managing Editor Rana Asfour. \n____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAbout the book: \nA novel of longing\, uncertainty\, and ultimately of hope\, written by an International Prize for Arabic Fiction-winning author and an International Booker-prize winning translator. \nAzzan is a beekeeper in a rural community in Oman. Devoted to tending his bees and searching for wild hives\, he encounters Thamna\, a lone shepherd woman\, on a mountain slope and is captivated by her and her honey-colored eyes. \nZahran Alqasmi’s masterful novel thrums forward with a subtle momentum. His lucid\, poetic writing conveys a visceral sense of time and place\, of the fragile ecologies inhabited by both bees and humans alike\, in this intense and compelling novel of loss and hope. \nPublished by Hoopoe\, 2025. \n \nAbout the author & translator: \nZahran Alqasmi (Author) is an Omani poet and novelist\, born in the Sultanate of Oman in 1974. Honey Hunger was his third of four published novels\, and in 2023 he won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) for The Water Diviner. He has also published ten poetry collections and a collection of short stories. \nMarilyn Booth (Translated by) is professor emerita\, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and Magdalen College\, Oxford University. She has translated many works of Arabic fiction into English. Her translations of Omani author Jokha Alharthi include Bitter Orange Tree and Celestial Bodies\, which was awarded the International Booker Prize. She has also translated Hoda Barakat\, Hassan Daoud\, Elias Khoury\, Latifa al-Zayyat\, and Nawal al-Saadawi. Her research publications focus on Arabophone women’s writing and the ideology of gender debates in the nineteenth century\, most recently The Career and Communities of Zaynab Fawwaz: Feminist Thinking in Fin-de-siècle Egypt. \n____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nThis online event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Donations are welcome to support The Markaz Review. \nRSVP here to participate
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/tmr-book-club-discusses-zahran-alqasmis-honey-hunger-with-translator-marilyn-booth/
LOCATION:Online
CATEGORIES:Author Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/May-2025-Book-Club-Zoom-wide-banner-1.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250531T103000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250531T173000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250523T173512Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250523T173512Z
UID:10000085-1748687400-1748712600@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:The Markaz Review Workshop: Writing From the Center of the World
DESCRIPTION:Whether you’re a seasoned or emerging writer\, join TMR’s daylong writing workshop that aims to inspire and empower writers to engage with the Middle East and the wider world through the lens of creative expression. During this event\, you will also get a chance to meet TMR’s editorial team\, including editor-in-chief Jordan Elgrably\, managing editor Rana Asfour\, and literary editor Malu Halasa. Learn about TMR’s mission to provide critical and creative perspectives on SWANA arts\, and discover how TMR has become a platform for the voices of Gaza\, queer fiction from the region\, and literary work that challenges and reshapes perceptions of and in the region. \nEvent highlights include an introduction to The Markaz Review (10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)\, a workshop on critical writing and reviewing (12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.)\, a workshop on fiction and literary nonfiction (3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.)\, and a workshop on translation and publishing (4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.). Although the event is free\, booking is essential. \nLearn more about this event
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/the-markaz-review-workshop-writing-from-the-center-of-the-world/
LOCATION:Arab British Centre\, 1 Gough Square\, London\, EC4A 3DE\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Writing Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/5.31-The-Markaz-Review-Workshop-Writing-From-the-Center-of-the-World-website-banner.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250629T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250629T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250610T122956Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250610T122956Z
UID:10000086-1751223600-1751227200@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Book Club Discusses Bothayna Al-Essa's "The Book Censor's Library\," translated by Sawad Hussain & Ranya Abdelrahman
DESCRIPTION:RSVP here to participate \nJoin The Markaz Review’s Book Club on Sunday\, June 29th at 1pm EST/ 6pm UK/ 7pm CET to dive into Bothayna Al-Essa’s “The Book Censor’s Library\,” translated by Sawad Hussain & Ranya Abdelrahman. Hosted by TMR’s Managing Editor\, Rana Asfour. \n\nAbout the book: \nA national book award finalist\, the novel is a reckoning with the global threat to free speech and the bleak future it all but guarantees. Bothayna Al-Essa marries the steely dystopia of Orwell’s 1984 with the madcap absurdity of Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland\, resulting in a dreadful twist worthy of Kafka. The Guardian of Surfaces is a warning call and a love letter to stories and the delicious act of losing oneself in them. \nThe new book censor has not slept soundly in weeks. By day\, he combs through manuscripts at a government office\, looking for anything that would make a book unfit to publish-allusions to queerness\, unapproved religions\, any mention of life before the Revolution. By night\, pilfered novels pile up in the house he shares with his wife and daughter\, and the characters of literary classics crowd his dreams. As the siren song of forbidden reading continues to beckon\, he descends into a netherworld of resistance fighters\, undercover booksellers\, and outlaw librarians trying to save their history and culture. \nAbout the author & the translators: \nBothayna Al-Essa (author) is the bestselling Kuwaiti author of nearly a dozen novels and additional children’s books. She is also the founder of Takween\, a bookshop and publisher of critically acclaimed works. Her most recent book\, The Book Censor’s Library\, won the Sharjah Award for Creativity in the novel category in 2021 and is her third novel to appear in English\, after Lost in Mecca and All That I Want to Forget. Al-Essa was author-in-residence at the British Centre for Literary Translation for the summer of 2023\, and the recipient of Kuwait’s Nation Encouragement Award for her fiction in 2003 and 2012. She has written books on writing and led writing workshops throughout the Arab world. \nSawad Hussain is a translator from Arabic whose work in 2023 was shortlisted for The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation and the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation\, and longlisted for The Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing. She is a judge for the Palestine Book Awards and the Armory Square Prize for South Asian Literature in Translation (2024 cycle). Her most recent translations include Edo’s Souls by Stella Gaitano (Dedalus Books)\, Djinn’s Apple by Djamila Morani (Neem Tree Press). \nRanya Abdelrahman is a translator of Arabic literature into English. After working for more than 16 years in the information technology industry\, she changed careers to pursue her interest in books\, promoting reading and translation. Abdelrahman has published translations in ArabLit Quarterly\, The Markaz Review\, and The Common\, and is the translator of Out of Time\, a short story collection by Palestinian author Samira Azzam. \n\nThis online event is open and free to the public. Registration is required. Donations are welcome to support The Markaz Review. \nRSVP here to participate
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/tmr-book-club-discusses-bothayna-al-essas-the-book-censors-library-translated-by-sawad-hussain-ranya-abdelrahman/
LOCATION:Online
CATEGORIES:TMR Book Club
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ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250727T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250727T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250710T154848Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250710T155009Z
UID:10000088-1753642800-1753646400@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Book Club Discusses The Burning Heart of the World with author Nancy Kricorian
DESCRIPTION:On Sunday\, July 27th TMR’s Book Club will meet to discuss The Burning Heart of the World with author Nancy Kricorian at 1pm EST/ 6pm UK/ 7pm CET. Hosted by TMR Managing Editor Rana Asfour. \nSign up here to participate in the discussion. \n\nIn vivid\, poetic prose\, Nancy Kricorian’s The Burning Heart of the World tells the story of a Beirut Armenian family before\, during\, and after the Lebanese Civil War. Returning to the fabular tone of Zabelle\, her popular first novel\, Kricorian conjures up the lost worlds and intergenerational traumas that haunt a family in permanent exile. Leavened with humor and imbued with the timelessness of a folktale\, The Burning Heart of the World is a sweeping saga that takes readers on an epic journey from the mountains of Cilicia to contemporary New York City. \nAbout the author:\nNancy Kricorian is the author of the novels Zabelle\, Dreams of Bread and Fire\, and All The Light There Was\, focused on post-genocide Armenian diaspora life. She has taught at Barnard\, Columbia\, Yale\, and New York University\, as well as with Teacher & Writers Collaborative in the New York City Public Schools and for the Palestine Writing Workshop in Birzeit. She has been the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship\, a Gold Medal from the Writers Union of Armenia\, and the Anahid Literary Award. She lives in New York City. \nPublished by Red Hen Press\, 2025. \n\nThis online event is open and free to the public. Registration is required. Donations are welcome to support The Markaz Review. \nSign up here to participate in the discussion.
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/tmr-book-club-discusses-the-burning-heart-of-the-world-with-author-nancy-kricorian/
LOCATION:Online
CATEGORIES:Author Events,TMR Book Club
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ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250928T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20250928T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T211426
CREATED:20250825T102523Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250825T102523Z
UID:10000089-1759086000-1759089600@themarkaz.org
SUMMARY:TMR Book Club Discusses Omar Khalifah's "Sand-Catcher" with special guests
DESCRIPTION:Sign up to participate here \nJoin us on Sunday\, September 28th at 1pm EST/ 6pm UK/ 7pm CET to discuss Omar Khalifah’s Sand-Catcher with special guests! \nAbout the book: \nA sardonic\, thrilling fable about collective memory and the many ways it can be saved or subverted. Omar Khalifa’s debut novel Sand-Catcher is at once a polyphonic satire and a tightly plotted tale of suspense. Walking the line between gallows humor\, rage\, and depthless heartbreak\, it is a unique reflection of contemporary Palestinian identity in all its facets. \nFour young\, Palestinian journalists at a Jordanian newspaper are tasked\, on account of their heritage\, with profiling one of the last living witnesses of the Nakba\, the violent expulsion of native Palestinians by the nascent state of Israel in 1948. Confident that the old man will be all too happy to go on record\, the reporters are nonplussed when they are repeatedly\, and obscenely\, rebuffed. This living witness to history\, this secular saint\, has no desire to be interviewed\, no desire for his memories to be preserved\, no desire to serve as an inspiration for the youth of tomorrow. What he wants is to be left alone. \nAs threats from the team’s editor-in-chief put more and more pressure on the journalists\, they must decide just how far they’re willing to go to get the old man on the record. After all\, what possible weight can one stubborn demand for privacy have when balanced against the imperative to bear witness? \nPublished by Coffee House Press\, 2024. \nAbout the author & translator:\nOmar Khalifah (author) is a novelist and short story writer in Arabic. His book\, Nasser in the Egyptian Imaginary\, was published in English by Edinburgh University Press in 2017. His collection Ka’annani Ana (As If I Were Myself) was published in Amman\, Jordan in 2010\, and his novel Qabid al-Raml (Sand-Catcher) was published in 2020. His articles have appeared in Middle East Critique and Journal of World Literature. A Fulbright scholar\, Khalifah is assistant professor of Arabic Literature and Culture at Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar. \nBarbara Romaine is an academic and literary translator. She has published translations of five novels\, most recently Waiting for the Past (Syracuse University Press\, 2022)\, by the Iraqi novelist Hadiya Hussein. She has held two NEA fellowships in translation\, one of which was for her work on Radwa Ashour's Spectres (Interlink Books\, 2011). Spectres went on to place second in the 2011 Saif Ghobash-Banipal international translation competition. Romaine’s translations of essays\, short stories\, and classical poetry have appeared in a variety of literary periodicals. \nSign up to participate here
URL:https://themarkaz.org/oldsite/event/tmr-book-club-discusses-omar-khalifahs-sand-catcher-with-special-guests/
LOCATION:Online
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ORGANIZER;CN="The Markaz Review":MAILTO:info@themarkaz.org
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