Mohamed Metwalli’s “A Song by the Aegean Sea” Reviewed
Sherine Elbanhawy finds that Mohamed Metwalli’s newly-translated poetry collection is the perfect form of escapism.
Turkey
On “True Love Leaves No Traces”
From Leonard Cohen to Apollo and Daphne to French philosopher Jean-Lun Nancy, Arie Akkermans-Amaya looks at the influences of an Istanbul exhibition.
Children in Search of Refuge: a Photographic Essay
Photographer, documentarian and journalist Iason Athanasiadis shares images from more than 10 years of reporting from Afghanistan to Greece and back.
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.
Burning Forests, Burning Nations
Columnist Hadani Ditmars recounts meeting strangers at the beach during fire season in British Columbia and finds Syria and Turkey are shared homelands.
Day of the Imprisoned Writer — November 15, 2021
TMR On November 15th, every year now for the last 40 years, PEN International has observed the Day of the Imprisoned Writer. With the harassment, detention, conviction and imprisonment of… Continue reading Day of the Imprisoned Writer — November 15, 2021
Kurdish Poet and Writer Meral Şimşek Merits Her Freedom
Jordan Elgrably Imagine, if you will, being put on trial for publishing poems and stories extolling the values of human rights and equality — or rotting in prison as you… Continue reading Kurdish Poet and Writer Meral Şimşek Merits Her Freedom
Displaced: From Beirut to Los Angeles to Beirut
Ara Oshagan I am walking along the narrow and labyrinthine Armenian neighborhoods of Bourj Hammoud in Beirut—spaces with names like Nor (new) Marash, Nor Sis, Nor Yozgat. These are the… Continue reading Displaced: From Beirut to Los Angeles to Beirut
Why Resistance Is Foundational to Kurdish Literature
Ava Homa how statelessness, trauma and political exile shaped her novel Daughters of Smoke and Fire Coming of age as a Kurdish girl in Iran, I learned early on that… Continue reading Why Resistance Is Foundational to Kurdish Literature
The Limits of Empathy in Rabih Alameddine’s Refugee Saga
The Wrong End of the Telescope a novel by Rabih Alameddine Grove Atlantic (Sept 2021) ISBN 9780802157805 Dima Alzayat When in 2018 director Lena Dunham announced she had been hired by… Continue reading The Limits of Empathy in Rabih Alameddine’s Refugee Saga
Women Comic Artists, from Afghanistan to Morocco
Anthropologist and comix author Sherine Hamdy provides a brief overview of new and recent Arab & Middle Eastern women’s political cartooning.
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.
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!
We Are All at the Border Now
Roving reporter Todd Miller, who has published four books exploring the world and its borders, questions the philosophy of walls.