‘In the 1960s, Lebanese society was divided between those who saw armed resistance against Israel as a national duty and those who believed it would inevitably lead to the country’s destruction. Then, as now, Israel identified that split and widened it.’ Zain Samir: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

I haven't been active on social media for a long while (Musk and company are driving me and millions of others away), but Blue Sky inspires me to come back. Fellow writers, please follow me. @selmadabbagh.bsky.social @vjumamel.bsky.social @warghetti.bsky.social @roxanasaberi.bsky.social

On Thursday, I passed the torch (or the lantern as it happens) to a new editor-in-chief, Lina Mounzer, formerly our senior editor in Beirut. Coincidentally, the first issue @markaz-review.bsky.social published was all about #BEIRUT. Welcome, Lina!

SAVE THE DATE: I'll be joining Lara Vergnaud & Jadd Hilal at the Comédie du Livre, Montpellier, for this public conversation (en français). Fri 22 May, 15:30: themarkaz.org/event/quelle...

What should we do when every last possible good feeling we have has turned to ash? In her new "Dear Souseh" column, TMR Senior Editor Lina Mounzer gives voice to the feelings so many of us hold close. Out this Friday. x.com/TheMarkazRev...

Yesterday, @nytimes wrote about the life and romance of Kurdish poet Ilhan Sami Çomak: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/w...

We interviewed Kurdish poet Ilhan Sami Çomak last fall: themarkaz.org/ilhan-sami-c...

themarkaz.org/iranian-visi... In this piece, I write that if the democratic struggles of Iranians are to stay alive, even in the bleakest of circumstances, collective creativity and memory are vital. A pleasure to work with @markaz-review.bsky.social and @jordanelgrably.bsky.social to amplify this

Message from our editors 💬 The Markaz Review has featured nearly 200 writers from Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) this year—and over 1,000 voices since our founding. Help us keep publishing bold, independent work.​ Donate: https://bit.ly/donatetmr

Little-known history about one of my favorite writers (among the dozens I've interviewed): themarkaz.org/the-friend-o...

Under Trump, the United States is becoming a Banana Republic. We should insure that Trump and his flunkies are arrested and prosecuted, as soon as possible. open.substack.com/pub/chrished...

On Wednesday, ICE GOONS arrested a mother in the school drop-off line at Inzunza Camarina Elementary in Chula Vista, leaving her two children in the car.

🖋️ “Silence is Not the Way” gathers Arab writers refusing complicity — confronting genocide and affirming that literature must not remain neutral. @jordanelgrably.bsky.social 🔗 bit.ly/silence-is-no...

🖋️ “Silence is Not the Way” gathers Arab writers refusing complicity — confronting genocide and affirming that literature must not remain neutral. @jordanelgrably.bsky.social 🔗 bit.ly/silence-is-n...

Great #ziadrahbani hommage in @markaz-review.bsky.social‬ by Diran Mardirian from the great #ChicoRecords shop in Beirut, founded by his dad who also set up the #Zida label w/ Ziad in the '70s! themarkaz.org/ziad-rahbani...

Huge congrats to my friend Mischa Geracoulis on her new book and the review in #Hyperallergic ! hyperallergic.com/1021592/fram...

The man's arrest is the latest case of federal authorities detaining immigrants with legal status during immigration check-ins. Lawmakers call the detainment of those who helped U.S. troops at war a betrayal. [via @wbur.org]

ARE YOU NOT SICK TO DEATH OF OUR GOVERNMENTS' INACTION WHEN PEOPLE ARE STARVING IN GAZA? WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO, TAKE UP ARMS? BOMB ISRAEL TO MAKE THEM STOP THIS CRUEL WAR CRIME? www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

The NYT should have published this a year ago. It came out today, but better late than never. How will the west react? www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...

Things might not be so far gone for US democracy if #HamidDabashi is right about the trend that would elect #ZohranMamdani www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/why-...

SOMETHING IS DEEPLY WRONG when the UK/US/EU talk about human rights EXCEPT FOR PALESTINIANS. This is wrong. www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-arre...

I wrote about crying while reading a translators’ note. @citylightsbooks.bsky.social @jordanelgrably.bsky.social

@rezaian.bsky.social fyi themarkaz.org/missiles-and...

Tune into 3 Arab public intellectuals, Moustafa & Hisham Bustani, moderated by Lina Mounzer @warghetti.bsky.social : open.spotify.com/episode/3Jug...

📖 [POETRY MARKAZ] Jawdat Fakhreddine’s “Bilād” is a haunting ode to lost homelands and resistance, bridging Arabic literary tradition and today’s struggles. 🔗 Read the piece + 3 translated poems: bit.ly/jawdat-fakred... #TMRPoetry #ArabicPoetry

@jordanelgrably.bsky.social We invite you to read today's TMR Weekly stories. Start with our correspondent from Tehran. themarkaz.org/tmr-weekly/

Curious what life is like today in Tehran? themarkaz.org/missiles-and... @warghetti.bsky.social @warren.senate.gov @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social

My colleagues @markaz-review.bsky.social have published a new issue today, entitled MEZZE. Who's hungry? themarkaz.org/category/tmr...

Three of us editors from The Markaz Review gave a creative writing workshop all day Saturday in London in the Shubbak Festival: full house! Query us, editors-at-themarkaz.org

Montpellier's a great city, always hopping. Gotta love the annual book fest Comédie du Livre, but also the #FestivalArabesque and #CINEMED and so much more.

What's life like in San Francisco these days? Here's what one former San Franciscan, now ensconced in Valencia, Spain, has to say on the subject: medium.com/city-life/si...

Today is the 77th commemoration of the Nabka, the day that #Palestinians know as the catastrophe. The Markaz Review editors have put together this book list. Please share it widely: themarkaz.org/editors-2025...

I have more respect now for Ben Affleck, although I disagreed with some of the ideology behind his film "Argo"; certainly Sam Harris is a Zionist and an anti-Muslim bigot. x.com/zei_squirrel...

this is absolutely horrifying. every single American should be speaking out against what’s happening in neighborhoods & cities across the country right now

On this #WorldPressFreedomDay I’m thinking of the 210+ Palestinian journalists who’ve been killed by Israel in the past year & a half—and how deeply sad it is that, as our western media continues to look away, the number pub’d below (in April) is already out of date💔

Thank you, Josep Borrell. But why couldn't you say this earlier? Why hasn't the EU put the brakes on arms sales to Israel? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

This is FASCISM AT WORK — they have no warrant, they don't give their names, they don't say why they are taking the woman off the street, what they're charging her with. Nada. No habeas corpus = tyranny.

🎨 [TMR 50 • RETURNING HOME] A tribute to Lebanese painter & poet Abdel Hamid Baalbaki at Sursock Museum honors his vision of art for the people & his love for South Lebanon—now scarred by war. 🔗 Read Karina El Helou’s featured artist highlight: themarkaz.org/going-...

No matter what this Administration tells the American people, the law is very clear: Members of Congress have a legal right to enter any DHS detention facility to conduct oversight without prior notice - something I’ve done twice this year without issue.

Consider this your personal invitation to visit my website: jordanelgrably.com

My heartfelt congrats to poet Mosab Abu Toha on his Pulitzer win, bringing more needed attention to #Gaza: themarkaz.org/poet-mosab-a...

Meet the editor-in-chief of @markaz-review.bsky.social @jordanelgrably.bsky.social at the Comédie du Livre and discover his books “Stories from the Center of the World” and “Sumūd”. Presentation in English. #ComédieDuLivre #Montpellier #MiddleEastFiction #MeetTheAuthor

My longtime pal Ammiel Alcalay has understood exactly what all of us are facing, or at least, those who love freedom and demand justice: www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/viet...

In “An Immigrant in America: ‘The Palace of Forty Pillars,’” Sean Casey reviews Armen Davoudian’s debut poetry collection where themes of exile, queerness, and dual identity unfold through elegant sonnets that bridge Iran and America. 🔗 Full book review: bit.ly/an-immigrant...

ننشر مقتطفًا من رواية «صلاة القلق»، الفائزة بالجائزة العالمية للرواية العربية 2025، حيث يروي محمد سمير ندا «بأسلوب فانتازي يمزج التاريخ بالخيال، يسخر من الحقائق» عن عهد الرئيس الراحل جمال عبد الناصر. themarkaz.org/salatalqalaq/ #صلاة_القلق #الجائزة_العالمية_للرواية_العربية #محمد_سمير_ندا

🗓️ [SAVE THE DATE] This SUNDAY, April 27th at 1pm EST: join us online to dive into Youssef Rakha’s latest novel, “The Dissenters.” Hosted by @bookfabulous.bsky.social. 🎟️ Don’t miss out, sign up here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... #themarkazreview #tmrbookclub #books #bookclub #onlineevent

Indeed, "a democracy for some is a democracy for none." #FreeMahmoudKhalil www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

🚨 🚨 The Markaz Review is debuting a new monthly feature this week! Dear Souseh: An Existential Advice Column for Third World Problems. Read & share AND if you have your own question for Souseh write her at [email protected] & look for it in an upcoming column! themarkaz.org/dear-souseh-...

Long ago I met James Baldwin in Paris. Our interviews were published in the Paris Review. Other Black writers in Paris to know are Chester Himes & William Gardner Smith. RSVP required: [email protected] by 14:00 on Apr 17th.