Architecture and Political Memory
In Iraq, buildings don’t simply reflect ideology — they absorb it, transmit it, and sometimes resist it. Especially when left unfinished.
Baghdad
Return to Iraq: Sama Alshaibi’s ‘طرس’
Sama Alshaibi’s new project focuses on the spatial, material, and technological fragments that narrate the story of a place and its people.
Radwa Ashour’s Classic Granada Now in a New English Edition
Ashour’s "Granada" trilogy arrives during the ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and a long arc completes a circle of horror.
“Dear Sniper” —a short story by Ali Ramthan Hussein
Gatekeepers of Baghdad decide who lives, who dies, during 2019 protests against high unemployment, state corruption, and poor services.
Regarding the Photographs of Others—An Iraqi Journey Toward Remembering
Photographs of Iraqis imply doom due to generational violence, even in happy pictures.
Feurat Alani: Paris, Fallujah and Recovered Memory
Feurat Alani, a French novelist of Iraqi descent, succeeds in capturing the connections between two disparate cultural spheres.
“The Beggar King”—a short story by Michael Scott Moore
Michael Scott Moore channels veteran experiences through a wily cat as an Iraq war vet tries to readapt to life in Calaveras, California.
Why Isn’t Ghaith Abdul-Ahad a Household Name?
Iason Athanasiadis reviews the Iraqi correspondent's new memoir on Middle East wars and asks questions.
Working the News: a Short History of Al Jazeera’s First 30 Years
Iason Athanasiadis on how the Arab world’s most famous product went from boisterous matchbox to counter-hegemon with an establishment role.
Hanging Gardens and the New Iraqi Cinema Scene
Laura Silvia Battaglia, on the set of Hanging Gardens, explores the burgeoning Iraqi film scene in Baghdad.
Dunya Mikhail Knows Her Poetry Will Not Save You
Dunya Mikhail is a UNESCO Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture laureate who has also won a UN Human Rights Award for Freedom of Writing.
Tiba al-Ali: A Death Foretold on Social Media
Iraqi lawyers and activists in a Baghdad-based NGO have been working to stop honor killings, but were unable to help Tiba al-Ali, reports Malu Halasa.
Fiction: Inaam Kachachi’s The Dispersal, or Tashari
An excerpt from Inaan Kachachi's novel that laments the scattering of Iraqis across the world as a result of war and political oppression.
“The Truck to Berlin”—Fiction from Hassan Blasim
This bleak and hyper real short story by Hassan Blasim is reminiscent of Ghassan Kanafani's novella "Men in the Sun."
Iraqi Diaspora Playwrights Hassan Abdulrazzak & Jasmine Naziha Jones: Use Your Anger as Fuel
Sparks fly when two UK-based Iraqi diaspora playwrights discuss how the art of theatre addresses Iraqi pain with both comedy and drama.