From A World Not Ours to a Land Unknown
Exiled Palestinian Mahdi Fleifel’s fiction debut "To a Land Unknown" provides a masterful bookend to his documentary on growing up in Ain el-Hilweh.
Lebanon
Imagining Ghanem—My Return to Lebanon
The writer explores Lebanon's archives for traces of her family who left 150 years ago, contemplating our responsibilities to our ancestors.
An Intimate History of Violence: Beirut Under Siege in Nejmeh Khalil Habib’s A Spring that Did Not Blossom
Nejmeh Khalil Habib's latest teaches us that while there are and will always be survivors of horrors, the trauma is never forgotten.
Jawdat Fakreddine Presents Three Poems
A major name in Arabic poetry, Jawdat Fakhreddine establishes a revolutionary dialogue between international, modernist values and the Arabic tradition.
Going Home to South Lebanon: Abdel Hamid Baalbaki
The Sursock Museum in Beirut presents "Ode to the South," a tribute exhibition to the late Abdel Hamid Baalbaki, 1940-2013.
A Letter To My Cruel Lover: Tripoli
My Tripoli breathes gunpowder, // … the city where mosques are bombed and streets get emptied. // … How can my Lebanon be their Lebanon?
Between Belief and Doubt: Ramzi Mallat’s Suspended Disbelief
"Suspended Disbelief" interrogates the tension between belief and doubt in the folklore and collective psyche of the Mediterranean region.
The Editor’s Letter Following the US 2024 Presidential Election
The Markaz Review responds to the results of the 2024 US presidential election, in which Donald Trump prevailed over Kamala Harris.
The Haunting Reality of Beirut, My City
Roger Assaf's poetic script for Jocelyne Saab's 1982 film about the siege of Beirut puts one in mind of today's stark reality in Lebanon.
Beyond Our Gaze: Rethinking Animals in Contemporary Art
Naima Morelli introduces four artists who showcase the role of animals in art as symbols, actors, or something altogether different.
Witnessing Catastrophe: a Painter in Lebanon
Tom Young's art raises important questions about studying images and the lasting impact of colonialism in the Arab world.
Everything Has Changed, Nothing Has Changed
A Beiruti interrogates her country's perennial condition with its neighbor in the aftermath of October 7 and the bloodcurdling aftershocks.
The Last Millefeuille in Beirut
As Beirut anticipates a military invasion, MK Harb's short story about two friends sharing a slice of cake unfolds.
Lebanon’s Holy Gatekeepers of Free Speech
When religious fanatics in Lebanon aren’t fighting one another, they make the best war comrades against modernity, secularism, and freedom of expression.
Meditations on Palestinian Exile and Return
The essence of Palestinian resilience, survival, and resistance is rooted in dispossession, as noted by Dana El Saleh.