Poetry Against the State
Gil Anidjar reviews A Bibliography for After Jews and Arabs, and suggests that "our problem is that we have stopped listening to the poets."
Review
Faïza Guène’s Fight for French Respectability
Melissa Chemam considers the sixth novel by France's former teen sensation Faïza Guène and whether she is now part of the literary canon.
The Polyphony of a Syrian Refugee Speaks Volumes
Farah Abdessamad reviews Silence is a Sense, the new novel from Layla AlAmmar.
The Howling of the Dog: Adania Shibli’s “Minor Detail”
Layla AlAmmar takes us into the heart of Adania Shibli's literary thriller, where Palestinian lives are but a "minor detail."
Isabel Wilkerson on Race and Caste in the 21st Century
"It's impossible not to think about race in relation to the United States these days," writes Paris correspondent Monique El-Faizy in this review of Isabel Wilkerson's "Caste."
An American in Istanbul Between Muslim and Christian Worlds
Anne-Marie O'Connor reviews the debut novel by Nektaria Anastasiadou, set in Istanbul's venerable Rum community.
Is White Feminism the De Facto Weapon of White Supremacy?
Rana Asfour reviews White Tears/Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad—"an explosive book of history and cultural criticism" that argues "white feminism has been a weapon of white supremacy and patriarchy deployed against black and indigenous women, and women of color."
The “Surreal Hell” That Made Tahar Ben Jelloun a Writer
The Punishment is a first-person account from an author who considers writers to be "witnesses of history."
Arabs & Race in America through the Short Story Prism
The best writing in "Alligator & Other Stories" starts a different conversation about Arab belonging and assimilation in America, through the prism of Syrian experience.
Falastin, Sami Tamimi’s “Palestinian Modern”
N.A. Mansour reviews the tantalizing recipes in Sami Tamimi & Tara Wigley's new cookbook of Palestinian cuisine.
Salvaging the shipwreck of humanity in Amin Maalouf’s Adrift
Maalouf draws a line from pivotal years in Middle Eastern history to some of the most pressing dilemmas currently facing humanity.
Poetic Exploration of Illness Conveys Trauma
I am waiting for the Tunisian American writer Leila Chatti to tell me, in her own words, in her debut collection of poetry, Deluge, about women in Islam, but she is telling me about blood instead.
Algiers, the Black Panthers & the Revolution
While Elaine Mokhtefi worked devotedly for the Black Panthers, the men who ran it were, it turned out, deeply flawed.