A Year of War Without End
In the guise of an editorial, senior editor Lina Mounzer struggles to find the words to describe the horror of the past year, and hopelessness as we confront endless war.
Iran
Hafez, Iran’s Revered Poet, trans. Erfan Mojib & Gary Gach
Translators Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach present poetry from Hafez, Iran's celebrated 14th century Persian lyric poet.
“Firefly”—a short story by Alireza Iranmehr
In this short story, an Iranian conscript keeps disappearing from duty. The natural world leaves clues of his whereabouts.
The Mourning Diaries of Atash Shakarami
The diaries provide a complex double-layered narrative of Nika as a victim of regime brutality, and of Atrash as a survivor of state horror.
Three Poems by Somaia Ramish
Somaia Ramish's poems, originally in Persian, decry violence against women, underage or forced marriage, poverty and the impact of extremism and war.
Nothing is Normal, Nothing Is What it Seems (Underground Theatre in Iran After the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement)
An interview with an actress performing on stage in Iran without a hijab and who is no longer taking on roles that require official approval.
Bani Khoshnoudi: Featured Artist for PARIS
Bani Khoshnoudi's work is often inhabited by displacement and uprooting, explore themes of exile, modernity and its violences, memory and the invisible.
Eyeliner: A Cultural History by Zahra Hankir—A Review
Nazli Tarzi reviews a book that challenges the uncritical view of eyeliner as a mere “exercise in vanity” and probes its use across many societies.
“Water”—a short story by Salar Abdoh
In the aftermath of a long war, a man in Iran searches for meaning, hopes for love, and struggles with the story of a whale.
A Treatise on Love
When disaster strikes Maryam Haidari between Tunis and Tehran, the past seven years of her life as a poet, writer and translator are thrown into stark relief.
Illuminated Reading for 2024: Our Anticipated Titles
Four editors at The Markaz Review share some of their most anticipated titles publishing in 2024.
An Iranian Novelist Seeks the Truth About a Plane Crash
Novelist Négar Djavadi deploys non-fiction to question Iran's downing of an international flight out of Tehran.
Religious Misogyny Personified in Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider
Bavand Karim reviews the film "Holy Spider" by Ali Abbassi which coldly deconstructs the brutal nature of Iran’s religious patriarchy.
“The Waiting Bones”—an essay by Maryam Haidari
As this writer from Khuzestan remembers, the long Iran-Iraq war left many traces, names and ghosts in its eight-year wake.
First Kurdish Sci-Fi Collection is Rooted in the Past
Matt Broomfield reviews the first anthology of Kurdish science fiction, one that envisions new possibilities for Kurdish self-determination.