The Markaz Review مجلة المركز
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🍉 Stories from the SWANA region & Arab diaspora 🗣️ Freedom | Identity | Resistance | Expression 📚 Fiction | Nonfiction | Poetry | Podcasts 🔗 New issue ⬇️
In this excerpt from Mehmed Uzun's “The Well of Destiny” (tr.Jeannette Okur & Tahirhan Aydin), a Kurdish family in exile witnesses a miracle in Ottoman-era Istanbul. > Read the excerpt now: https://bit.ly/the-well-of-destiny-excerpted-from-mehmed-uzuns-novel #TMR60 #TheMarkazReview #Kurdish
The SWANA region has given the world some of its greatest writers. Now The Markaz Prize is here to discover the next generation. 🗓️ Deadline: September 15, 2026 🔗 Learn more and submit your work now: https://themarkaz.org/literaryprizes/ #SWANALiterature #LiteraryContest #ArabDiasporaWriters
Beginning with a father's silence and moving through generations of Kurdish poetry, a Kurdish poet considers how language survives dispossession by making a home in what cannot be spoken. > Discover Hajjar Baban’s essay: https://bit.ly/whats-form-to-silence-kurdish-poets-on-the-impossibility
عن حمى الأشباه التي انتشرت في مصر، يكتب ماجد وهيب رواية رائعة، تتجاوز الواقع إلى خيال سوداوي ساخر. يمكنكم قراءة المقال من خلال الرابط التالي: https://themarkaz.org/tafteetalbashar/ #المركز_بالعربي #تفتيت_البشر #ماجد_وهيب #رواية #بيت_الحكمة
A major voice in contemporary Kurdish poetry, Rafiq Sabir spent years as a Peshmerga prior to the 1991 Kurdish uprising in Iraq. He lived much of his life in exile. > Discover Shene Mohammed’s translation: https://bit.ly/time-runs-blind-in-rafiq-sabirs-poetry #TMR60 #TheMarkazReview #Kurdish
In August, we are delighted to welcome Sahar Mustafah, author of "The Slightest Green". Join Rana Asfour, Sahar Mustafah to discuss our latest pick. 🗓️ Join us Sunday, August 30th at 1pm EST/19:00 CET online. > https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/jzl1v4E2SaOLR1TCRRlxuw#/registration
Need summer reading inspiration? Browse the books our editors are taking on holiday featuring fiction, memoirs, and thought-provoking picks. 📚 Let us know what you're currently reading! > Discover the full booklist: https://bit.ly/summer-reading-booklist #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview
The stories in this new anthology edited by Zaher Omareen offer a different narrative framework through which to view an endlessly mythologized city. > Discover the review by Anas Tareef now: bit.ly/a-life-not-defined-by-death-a-critical-reading-of-the-book-of-damascus #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview
Dima el-Horr's latest documentary offers a rarely-seen side of Beirut's Corniche. > Read the full review by Amelia Izmanki: bit.ly/between-the-city-and-the-sea-a-review-of-and-the-fish-fly-above-our-heads #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Film #Beirut #Lebanese
When a Kurdish prisoner emerges from a Baathist jail light enough to be carried by the wind, his family must find a way to keep him tethered to the earth. > Discover Bachtyar Ali’s excerpt (tr. Alana Levinson-LaBrosse and Halo): https://bit.ly/my-uncle-jamshid-excerpted-from-bachtyar-alis-novel
Knock knock. Who's there? It's our call for submissions for The Markaz Review’s COMEDY issue! 🗓️ Submit by Sept 25. 🔗 Submissions open on August 21: https://themarkaz.org/submissions/ #TheMarkazReview #TMR #CallForSubmissions #SubmissionsOpen #SWANAWriters #ArabWriters #WritingCommunity #LitMag
Join us for an evening of conversation on Palestinian culture, resistance, and Middle Eastern literature with TMR's founder, Jordan Elgrably, at Watermelon Books in Los Angeles. 🔗 RSVP: https://holyground.us/products/friday-august-28th-at-7-30-pm-palestine-is-the-center-of-the-world
تحكي كريمة أحداد عن التغيير الذي طرأ على حياتها بسبب الكتب؛ من الحسيمة في المغرب إلى إسطنبول، ومن فتاة صغيرة إلى كاتبة نسوية معروفة. يمكنكم قراءة المقال من خلال الرابط التالي: https://themarkaz.org/menalhamish/ #المركز_بالعربي #كريمة_أحداد #مقال
We are delighted to welcome Sahar Mustafah, author of "The Slightest Green". Join Rana Asfour, and our fabulous reader community to discuss our latest pick. 🗓️ Join us Sunday, August 30th at 1pm EST/19:00 CET online. > https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/jzl1v4E2SaOLR1TCRRlxuw#/registration
After decades spent gathering Kurdish literature and cultural artifacts for an "exile museum," one man's life's work is under threat. >Read Nasim T. Stone’s piece: https://bit.ly/exhibition-exile-a-profile-of-the-kurdish-exile-museum #TMR60 #TheMarkazReview #Kurdish #Kurdistan #SWANA #Literature
Selîm Temo’s poetry (tr. Rojin Shekh Hamo) weaves political insight with tenderness, capturing the enduring spirit of Kurdish cultural heritage. > Discover the poems now: bit.ly/two-poems-by-selim-temo #TMRWeekl #SWANAliterature #Poetry #Poems #Translation #KurdishTranslation #KurdishPoetry
A young Kurdish writer grapples with what it means to exist outside the politics of appeal and visibility. > Discover Aline Jabbari’s latest essay: bit.ly/to-inhabit-the-wind-the-kurd-and-the-politics-of-recognition #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Kurdistan #Kurdishliterature
Israel's savagery, meant to crush any hope of Palestinian salvation, may be what ultimately secures it. > Read Amal Ghandour’s latest column: bit.ly/twining-apocalypse-and-rebirth-in-israel-palestine #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #ThisArabLife #Palestine #Gaza #AmalGhandour #Column
Pınar Banu Yaşar, a Kurdish poet, draws on the figure of Satan in Paradise Lost to examine Kurdish exile, dance, and the politics of longing. > Discover her piece: https://bit.ly/behest-on-the-politics-of-yearning #TMR60 #TheMarkazReview #Kurdish #Kurdistan #SWANA #KurdishPoetry #KurdishPoet
Despite enormous constraints — fifteen years of war, state repression, inadequate funds, and more — Kurdish female artists continue to create. > Read Matt Broomfield’s piece: https://bit.ly/womens-art-after-the-womens-war #TMR60 #TheMarkazReview #Kurdish #Kurdistan #SWANA #Literature #KurdishArt
قراءة مستفيضة لقصة من أدب الخيال العلمي الفلسطيني، نُشرت ضمن مجموعة قصصية شهيرة تستشرف المستقبل، يقدمها الناقد الليبي رواد الهاشمي. يمكنكم قراءة المقال كاملًا من خلال الرابط التالي: https://themarkaz.org/alwatanalraqami/ #المركز_بالعربي #الوطن_الرقمي
Sinan Antoon’s self-translated novel explores the different ways memory unfolds in exile but offers no closure. > Discover Saleem Haddad’s latest review: bit.ly/memory-and-forgetting-in-of-loss-and-lavender #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #SinanAntoon #BookReview #Iraq
A new anthology series set in Saudi Arabia delves into the emotional journeys of figures often overlooked in daily life. > Read Mira Minkara’s latest review: bit.ly/alkhallat-more-than-a-comedy-series #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Alkhallat+ #Film #SaudiArabi
A poetry collection by Birhan Keskin, a transformative Turkish voice, explores questions of gender, queer desire, memory, and belonging. > Read Efe Murad’s latest review: bit.ly/birhan-keskins-earthly-conditions-godless-sufism #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #TurkishLiterature
From shared fruit to shared memory, Holly Mason Badra, a Kurdish American writer, traces how culture survives through ritual, kinship, and acts of gathering. > Read her essay now: https://bit.ly/ez-kurdim-meditations-on-ritual-gathering-and-being #Kurdish #SWANA #Literature #Kurdishwriter
The SWANA region has given the world some of its greatest writers. Now The Markaz Prize is here to discover the next generation 🗓️ Deadline: September 15, 2026 🔗 Learn more and submit your work now: https://themarkaz.org/literaryprizes/ #SWANALiterature #LiteraryContest #ArabDiasporaWriters
For one Kurdish scholar, the future of the Kurds depends on mother-tongue education, literacy, and whether digital tools support language revitalization rather than marginalization. > https://bit.ly/kurdish-language-at-a-crossroads-an-interview-with-jaffer-sheyholislami
We are delighted to share that this year, we have the distinct privilege of honoring not one, but four exceptional writers. Two laureates in each category will be recognized with awards that celebrate the depth, originality, and resonance of their work. Submit now: www.themarkaz.org/literaryprizes
The Metropolis Cinema in Beirut celebrates twenty years of showing indie cinema, surviving multiple crises. > Read Jim Quilty’s article: bit.ly/metropolis-cinema-celebrates-two-decades-in-beirut #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #Beirut #Cinema #Lebanon #Lebanesefilm
The true "serpent" of the acclaimed novel “This is Where the Serpent Lives” by Daniyal Mueenuddin, set against the shifting social landscape of contemporary Pakistan, may be its unexamined biases. > Read Farah Ahamed’s latest review: bit.ly/the-real-serpent-in-daniyal-mueenuddins-novel