Getting to the Other Side: a Kurdish Migrant Story
Iason Athanasiadis paints the portrait of Bahoz, a stateless Kurd who will keep fighting to become accepted for asylum in Europe.
Iraq
“Europa,” Iraq’s Entry in the 94th annual Oscars, Frames Epic Refugee Struggle
Thomas Dallal reviews Haider Rashid's new feature film, "Europa," Iraq’s foreign feature film entry to the upcoming 94th Academy Awards.
An Arab and a Jew Walk into a Bar…
Our columnist compares Arab/Muslim and Jewish humor and finds more in common than one might expect.
The Vanishing: Are Arab Christians an Endangered Minority?
Hadani Ditmars reviews Janine di Giovanni's ambitious new travelogue on beleaguered Christian communities in Iraq, Gaza, Syria, and Egypt.
A Street in Marrakesh Revisited
In which the editor of "Poetic Justice: An Anthology of Contemporary Moroccan Poetry" remembers her introduction to life in Marrakesh.
Guantánamo—The World’s Most Infamous Prison
An excerpt from Sarah Mirk's graphic novel describes life in the infamous US prison in Cuba.
Why Resistance Is Foundational to Kurdish Literature
Kurdish writer Ava Homa on how statelessness, trauma and political exile shaped her novel "Daughters of Smoke and Fire."
The Harrowing Life of Kurdish Freedom Activist Kobra Banehi
Excerpted from the anthology Kurdish Women’s Stories (Pluto Press, 2020), by special arrangement with editor Houzan Mahmoud. The Prison Speakers Played Islamic Verses Kobra Banehi Kobra Banehi, also known… Continue reading The Harrowing Life of Kurdish Freedom Activist Kobra Banehi
Afghanistan Falls to the Taliban
On the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, Hadani Ditmars remembers the treasures and the ruins of Afghanistan and Iraq.
World Picks: August 2021
Travel the world, meet people, see great places, without ever leaving the comfort of your screen…well, in some cases you can go in person!
Summer of ‘21 Reading—Notes from the Editors
Our editors reveal their diverse literary interests, with more than a dozen recommendations for summer reading.
ISIS and the Absurdity of War in the Age of Twitter
Jessica Proett reviews Salar Abdoh's empirical novel set during the days when ISIS was running loose across Iraq and Syria.
World Picks: July 2021
Travel the world, meet people, see great places, without ever leaving the comfort of your screen…well, in some cases you can go in person!
The Truth About Iraq: Memory, Trauma and the End of an Era
Hadani Ditmars remembers what Baghdad was like following the second Gulf War in 2003, when she toured Abu Ghraib with Robert Fisk.
Truth or Dare? Reinterpreting Al-Harīrī’s Arab Rogue
Farah Abdessamad reviews a new English translation of Impostures from Basra-born Al-Hariri that revives the "eloquent rogue" genre of classical Arabic literature.