Editors’ Palestinian Lit List
The editors of The Markaz Review recommended 20 of the best contemporary Palestinian novels, story collections and nonfiction.
The Imagination Interviews
Domicide—War on the City
According to Dr. Ammar Azzouz’s essay on domicide, taken from his new book, carpet bombing of Middle Eastern cities is nothing new.
Atom Bombs and Earthquakes: Changing Arabian Culture Via Architecture
T.H. Shalaby maps out and questions architectural planning in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
Stitching Baluchestan: Embroidery as Topography
Contemporary artist Bibi Manavi's research into the iconic fashion designs of Mehremonir Jahanbani led her to the farthest corners of Iran.
Interview: Oorvi Sharma, Architectural Researcher and Designer
Rabi Georges reviews and interviews innovative architect Oorvi Sharma in Abu Dhabi.
Experimental Saharanism: Exploiting Desert Environments
Brahim El Guabli urges us to studying deserts to push our thinking beyond ordinary notions of space and place.
Mounia Kansoussi: Time, Movement, Space
An artist raised in Morocco living in Montpellier, influenced by architecture and Samuel Beckett, has a very particular point of view.
The Bridge to Nowhere
Youssef H. Alshammari has composed a meditation on the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway in Kuwait — one of the world's longest bridges.
“Before the Earthquake”—a short story by Salah Badis
In which a woman ponders the fate of the individuals who left behind their garments, now long forgotten, at the laundromat.
The Floods of Derna: Historical Parallels to Libya’s Crisis
Lama Elsharif finds that Derna’s harrowing flood proves a surprising catalyst for unity in a nation scarred by decades-long conflict and division.
Suad Aldarra’s I Don’t Want to Talk About Home
Ammar Azzouz reviews Suad Aldarra’s memoir about Syrian life that exists beyond the headlines and numbers reported in the newspapers.
Mohamed Al Mufti, Architect and Painter of Our Time
Nicole Hamouche visits artist and architect at his Beirut studio, whose work reflects on Damascus' and Beirut’s political and social scene.
“The Hauntology of Varosha” or “Room Number 137 of the Argo Hotel”
A Cypriot writer's story about a forgotten child in an abandoned town the writer looked on to from her window in Cyprus.
Ammar Khammash’s Sustainable Architecture
Mischa Geracoulis reviews a lavish coffeetable book that examines the sustainable building practice of Jordanian architect Ammar Khammash.
Sustainability: Rethinking the City in the United Arab Emirates
Rana Asfour on the UAE's intervention solutions for energy-efficient, sustainable buildings rooted in the city.