What They’re Saying About TMR

ŚŪNYA series, 2016, artist Zena Elkhalil

READERS

“Too few venues provide the kind of deep, well-rounded, thoroughly grounded coverage of greater Middle Eastern culture that we can expect, day in and day out, from The Markaz Review. It is a gift to readers and an inspiration to writers and publishers throughout the English-speaking world.”
Boris Dralyuk, Ed.-in-Chief, Los Angeles Review of Books


“A visionary media project that reaches the misinformed American and European public and builds grass-roots support around Middle Eastern themes.”
Terence Ward, author of Searching for Hassan and The Wahhabi Code.


The Markaz Review engages in what I like to call epistemic disobedience, especially in understanding the Middle East generally, and Arab and Muslim culture specifically.  In so doing, TMR goes “where the silence is”—as Amy Goodman has put it. It not only provides a still, much needed corrective and humanizing hand, but also exposes the reader to a profound world of ideas and issues that insist—as they long have—to be heard.”
Sara Roy, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University


Comments in TMR on Beirut In Pieces by Jenine Abboushi

I was thoroughly captivated by this contemplative, lyrical and trenchant reflection on our impossible Beirut. There is so much here to learn from, to teach and to debate. Thank you for this generous and beautifully written piece. —Elise Salem

This is a beautiful essay…I will teach it in my course on photography and memory as soon as I am able. What a pleasure and deep instruction. —Laura Wexler

Such a gorgeous, tragic, hopeful piece. —Lisa Hajjar

Beautifully written piece about an indescribable city we all love to love, hate and be frustrated with! Beirut through the years in the eyes of someone who intimately understands its nuances.
Reem M

مقال رائع.. شعرت وكأني شاهد عيان —Lamia Fakhoury

WRITERS

“The team at the Markaz Review has provided more than just a platform on which to publish my work but an encouraging and friendly environment that has helped me to flourish as a writer. Jordan has done what every great editor should: not only offer feedback but bring out potential and elevate a piece of writing to the best version it can be. TMR has been home to one of my dearest personal essays, and it continues to publish high-caliber work on the SWANA region and beyond, providing a much-needed spotlight on writers with roots and a sincere interest in the region.”
— Sarah Kahly-Mills


The Markaz Review has demonstrated its unique value proposition in critically engaging with plural narratives from North Africa and West Asia, consistently investing and promoting new, emerging voices from the region and the Diaspora. It’s a home for writers and artists at large who can safely explore experimentation and benefit from rigorous and generous editing — a true gift.”
Farah Abdessamad


The Markaz Review is a publication unlike any other I have worked with. Relying on a broad international community of journalists, thinkers and artists, TMR is able to gather voices and ideas that reflect aspects of Middle Eastern and international culture that are hard to hear or find in other places. The journalists and editors working with TMR understand how important it is to build cross-cultural and cross-border understanding. As a freelance writer, TMR gives me a forum of exchange and discussion that is vital, in particular during the COVID era. In a consistent and continuing relationship, TMR provides editorial and moral support that makes it possible to bring out the best in my writing.”
Francisco Letelier


“I can think of no other review that is so open to publishing unconventional or hybrid essays (as long as the writing is high-quality, accessible). It’s a dream come true: I get to write organically, with my diverse identities and worlds in conversation, and Jordan and our team wave me through enthusiastically. TMR writers have a high measure of aesthetic and intellectual autonomy. In fact I have become a professional essayist and columnist thanks to The Markaz Reviewand I have started to receive commissions to write for other venues as well.
—Jenine Abboushi