The (Afghan) Writer Who Sold His Book Collection to Pay the Rent
Selling off your beloved book collection to pay the rent hurts, but it beats starving or being out on the street.
TMR Weekly
Objective Brits, Subjective Syrians
"What a British person imagined Syria or the Middle East to be ... was more important than what I or people like me thought. We were subjective, but their opinions were objective."
Sudden Journeys: The Villa Salameh Bequest
Jenine Abboushi inaugurates a new monthly column with a story about a prominent family that lost everything in Palestine.
From Jerusalem to a Kingdom by the Sea
Rana Asfour reviews a new memoir about the legendary Dajani family, charged by a Turkish sultan with watching over King David's Tomb in Jerusalem, but exiled in 1948.
Syria Through British Eyes
British-Syrian novelist Rana Haddad compares her experience growing up in Syria with the way people beyond Syria's borders see her country.
Surviving the Rittenhouse Verdict
C. Michael Johnson responds to news of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. TMR invites readers to respond to the major issues of our times, from climate change to criminal justice, human rights and liberation from all forms of oppression.
Three Banned Saudi Novels Everyone Should Read
Despite its repressive regimes, Saudi Arabia has produced a number of world-class novelists — several of whom have seen their best work banned. Rana Asfour reviews three in English translation.
Electronic Music in Riyadh?
Music journalist Melissa Chemam turns in the first column as part of a new monthly series in which she'll explore icons of Arab music and how they influence music production around the world.
Hayy Jameel — Jeddah’s Sparkling New Center for the Arts
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is home to a major new arts and cultural center, opening to the public on December 6, 2021.
Traveling in Contentious Spaces — Saudi Arabia
When friends in Abu Dhabi asked Deborah Williams how she could support MBS by going to “his” festival, she didn’t have an answer, only another question: how do we draw the lines around where we will or won’t go?
The Promotion (a short story from Saudi Arabia)
What happens when an immigrant professor dresses to impress in a bid to land tenure at a Saudi university? A short story by Waqar Ahmed paints a humorous picture.
Etel Adnan’s Sun and Sea: In Remembrance
Art critic Arie Amaya-Akkermans summons the gods of art and poetry as he reviews the life work of the late polymath Etel Adnan, 1925-2021.
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.
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
The Ignominy of Guantánamo: a History of Torture
Marian Janssen, biographer of a forthcoming volume on the flamboyant American poet Carolyn Kizer, reviews the new memoir by former prisoner Mansoor Adayfi.