Temptations of the Imagination: how Jana Elhassan and Samar Yazbek transmogrify the world
Rana Asfour provides an intimate look at two new Arab novels in translation, from Lebanese and Syrian authors.
TMR Weekly
America’s Freedom Hinges on the Survival of its Democracy
I. Rida Mahmood calls out the double standards of Republicans and Supreme Court conservatives who argued that no president is above the law.
January 6th and the Free Fall of Democracy.
An American expat demonstrates how distance helps one see one's country more clearly, as he laments how far traditional US democracy has fallen.
The US Democracy Crisis is a Media Crisis and the Mainstream Press is Losing
Columnist Lorraine Ali remembers 2021 as the year of the January 6 insurrection, the Covid-19 pandemic and the debacle of Omicron and the Republicans.
Sudden Journeys: From Munich with Love and Realpolitik
A family tragedy (we all have them), powerful forms of devotion and love, and a common political approach to “defeated peoples” in the world—all revisited over a weekend in Munich.
Music in the Middle East: Business can’t Buy Authenticity
180,000 electronic music aficionados attended the SOUNDSTORM festival in Riyadh this month, but as columnist Melissa Chemam writes, "it is impossible not to see these events as a part of the country’s soft power and policy to whitewash its terrible human rights record."
Recovering/Remembering Love, Sex and Trauma
Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi follows her novels "Fra Keeler" and "Call Me Zebra" with a story set in Andalucia.
Reflections on Abu Dhabi and the U.A.E. at 50
The powerhouse United Arab Emirates has just fêted 50 years as a country, and 10-year resident Deborah Williams takes stock.
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.
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.