What are we looking for?
The Markaz Review aka TMR seeks essays, feature articles and reviews of books, film, music, theatre and art, as well as profiles/interviews of artists, filmmakers, musicians and writers (1,000–3,000 words). We’re interested in covering a worldwide array of visual, literary and performing arts events, as well as current affairs. We also publish opinion columns (750–1,500 words). Our style is serious without being academic. Our writers care and are even passionate on the subjects they cover.
Reviewing
Book publicists, authors and publishers should address a press release and an electronic ARC of your book to our Book Editor, who handles assignments: Rana Asfour, rana-at-themarkaz.org. To potentially have your film, art exhibition or other event reviewed, drop us a line at info-at-themarkaz.org and your query will be forwarded to the appropriate editor.
Reviewers: While we are very open to comparative review essays (typically 1,000–3,000 words), we discourage writers from pitching reviews in which they would be writing about books or films by friends. A little objectivity goes a long way, and we prefer critical writing that holds work to high standards.
What do we care about?
TMR is an international platform for creative inquiry, criticism, performance and dialogue that explores the arts, humanities and current affairs. Recognizing that we live in a world fragmented by racism, gender discrimination, settler-colonialism, class and caste systems, xenophobia and orientalism, we raise our voices for social justice and human rights.
When does TMR publish?
Written or audiovisual contributions appear either in TMR Weekly, publishing every Monday, or in our monthly online magazine, a themed issue every 15th of the month. Submissions range from 750 to 3,000 words, but please query with a one- or two-paragraph pitch, to editor-at-themarkaz.org.
FILES
All work must be turned in as either a Word file or a Google doc using the Word formatting. Track changes (not email exchanges) remain the gold standard with respect to editing, corrections and final drafts. No exceptions.
Please do not send stories or corrections in the body of your email. After publication, minor corrections are acceptable via email.
If you are sending images, upload all of them to one Google drive folder and share the link to that folder with TMR. Upload a Word doc with captions for your images into that same folder. Please do not send multiple images with multiple emails.
TMR WEEKLY
All op-eds, columns or reviews must be turned in not less than one week prior to the agreed-upon publication date. We publish every Monday, thus your work must be turned in no later than the previous Monday.
TMR MONTHLY
Queries will be accepted up to the 20th of the month preceding the month of publication (always the 15th of each month).
The final polished draft of approved stories will be accepted up to the 5th of the month of publication, unless translation is required, in which case you must add an additional week to 10 days ahead of the deadline on the 5th of the month. Any stories turned in after the 5th of the month of publication will be considered late and may not make it into publication. To avoid confusion, please turn in your work early or on time.
Editing, layout, design and publication prep for each monthly issue must be completed no later than the 10th of the month. This allows TMR time to prepare PR and marketing of the issue, prepping social media posts and other outreach.
Call for Submissions: MADNESS • July 2022
We are living in unhinged times in which mental illness is on the rise, in part due to the solitude and the stress of Covid-19, but also because of war and other global crises. With particular emphasis on the Middle East, the Maghreb and diaspora, The Markaz Review will publish an issue devoted to madness—clinical, literary, existential, apocalyptic—on July 15, 2022.
Art, photography, film, music, fiction, essays and reviews are welcome. Everything is on the table for the MADNESS issue, including psychological stress among refugees/immigrants/Arabs/Muslims/people of color, exploring the social stigma of mental illness, the fragile condition of exile, the rich history of perceptions and approaches to mental illness in the region, the elevated figure of the mad poet (prophet, exile, lover); concepts of creativity and madness, how madness historically develops in art and society — from Majnoun Laila, to mysticism, the figure of the Darweesh or the social outcast, and beyond.
Query by June 20th, deadline for submission of materials, July 5th to editor@themarkaz.org.
Call for Submissions: BERLIN • September 2022
In recent years, with the flow of refugees from West Asia and Africa streaming toward Europe, many have struggled to find acceptance and asylum in the UK, Germany, and several Nordic countries, but one city stands out as having become a preferred destination among Arab and other Middle Eastern immigrants, and that is BERLIN. On August 15, 2022, The Markaz Review will publish an issue devoted to Berlin from the viewpoint of its SWANA refugees, in particular artists and writers, activists and educators from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Algeria, Palestine, Israel and other countries south and west of the Mediterranean. Is Berlin the “new Damascus” or “new Cairo” as some have called it? This population had the precedent of a large Turkish migration; as a result, are Germans in Berlin more receptive to and accepting of Muslims immigrants? Stories of adaptation and asylum, in the form of first-person essays, short fiction, photography, film, art and music are welcome.
Please query editor@themarkaz.org by August 15, 2022 or submit your completed work. Final copy deadline is September 1, 2022.
What’s been our track record?
Over the years, Levantine Cultural Center/Markaz flagship programs have engaged communities to overcome animosity and racism to learn about one another. They include Arabs, Blacks and Jews: The Art of Resistance (2005–2010); Freedom Theatre West (2011–2014); Gaza Surf Relief (2007–2015); New Voices in Middle Eastern Cinema (2010–2015); and the Sultans of Satire (2005–2017). Meanwhile our Inside-Outside Gallery (2009–2016) presented many group and solo art exhibits featuring fine artists from across the Middle East/North Africa and the American diaspora.
Contributor Honoraria
The Markaz Review (TMR) is a non-profit publication. TMR offers contributors a modest honorarium.
What else would you like to know?
The Markaz Review presents online art galleries as well as live performances, short films, discussion groups and presentations/Q & As with world experts. We soon hope to produce a regular podcast and online arts and language courses. The primary language of TMR is English. All articles also appear in French and Spanish versions. We frequently translate from Arabic and other languages.