The Markaz Review

The Markaz Review 🍉 TMR is a literary arts review on SWANA and our communities in diaspora. We support freedom of expression.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMarkazReview
Instagram: https://instagram.com/themarkaz/

📰 [TMR EDITORIAL TEAM]Swipe to meet Malu Halasa, Literary Editor (London)—writer, journalist, and editor focused on Pale...
01/12/2026

đź“° [TMR EDITORIAL TEAM]

Swipe to meet Malu Halasa, Literary Editor (London)—writer, journalist, and editor focused on Palestine, Syria, and Iran. Curator of "Art of the Palestinian Poster" (P21 Gallery, 2025); co-editor of "Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader" (Seven Stories, 2025) and "Woman Life Freedom" (Saqi, 2023). Her essays on nationality, resistance, and memory appear in TMR, alongside anthologies like "Transit Beirut" and her debut novel "Mother of All Pigs."

📖 [TMR 56 NOIR]Discover our must-read list of 10 Arab noir novels for TMR 56—from Ahmed Mourad’s "Vertigo" (Cairo politi...
01/12/2026

đź“– [TMR 56 NOIR]

Discover our must-read list of 10 Arab noir novels for TMR 56—from Ahmed Mourad’s "Vertigo" (Cairo political thriller) and Parker Bilal’s Makana series to Hassouma Mosbahi’s "A Tunisian Tale" and the Akashic City Noir collections (Baghdad, Beirut, Marrakech). This selection explores shadowy underworlds, moral ambiguity, and human darkness—revealing tales of crime, corruption, and existential dread from the region’s finest voices.

đź”— Full list: https://bit.ly/10-noir-novels-to-kill-for

01/11/2026

đź“š [TMR BOOK CLUB]

Kick off 2026 with TMR Book Club hosted by Rana Asfour! Dive into Hisham Matar’s "My Friends" on Sunday, Jan 25 at 1pm EST online—exploring friendship forged in Libyan exile and revolution. Join our community of readers.

đź”— RSVP here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/yfXMbGErQ1uN2ume1aJFmg #/registration

đź“° [TMR EDITORIAL TEAM]Swipe to meet Lina Mounzer, Senior Editor, translator, and writer (Beirut-Montreal). A regular in ...
01/11/2026

đź“° [TMR EDITORIAL TEAM]

Swipe to meet Lina Mounzer, Senior Editor, translator, and writer (Beirut-Montreal). A regular in The New York Times, Paris Review, Washington Post, Freeman’s, and The Baffler, her work appears in "Tales of Two Planets" (Penguin 2022) and "Best American Essays 2022." Highlights include sharp essays on Gaza, Lebanon’s women, UN famine experts, and maternal legacies.

🗓️ [SAVE THE DATE]Rejoignez-nous pour la première rencontre du LE BOOK CLUB en 2026 : nous discuterons de "La naturalisa...
01/11/2026

🗓️ [SAVE THE DATE]

Rejoignez-nous pour la première rencontre du LE BOOK CLUB en 2026 : nous discuterons de "La naturalisation" avec l’auteur Zied Bakir, le dimanche 8 février à 18h CET / 12pm EST. Ce roman picaresque suit l’errance d’un jeune Tunisien entre exil choisi, galères administratives et quête d’appartenance. Animé par Lara Vergnaud.

🎟️ Inscrivez-vous gratuitement pour réserver votre place : https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/HaBxi5b1SQiWcMRgXg_Igw #/registration
​
— — —
Join us for the first LE BOOK CLUB meeting of 2026: we’ll be discussing "La naturalisation" with author Zied Bakir on Sunday, February 8 at 6pm CET / 12pm EST. This sharp picaresque novel follows a young Tunisian navigating chosen exile, bureaucratic ordeals, and the search for belonging. Hosted by Lara Vergnaud.

🎟️ Register for free and save your spot: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/HaBxi5b1SQiWcMRgXg_Igw #/registration
​

📰 [TMR WEEKLY]Latest articles in TMR Weekly:• In “India’s Painter but Qatar’s Museum,” Jacob Wirtschafter visits Doha’s ...
01/09/2026

đź“° [TMR WEEKLY]

Latest articles in TMR Weekly:

• In “India’s Painter but Qatar’s Museum,” Jacob Wirtschafter visits Doha’s newly renovated Al Riwak galleries to ask who gets to claim M.F. Husain’s legacy—India, Qatar, or the global art market.
https://bit.ly/indias-painter-but-qatars-museum

• In “TMR Recommends 7 Books for Marginals,” Zia Ahmed curates a sharp reading list on class, race, borders, and the daily grind of precarity—from London estates to refugee camps and gig economies.
https://bit.ly/7-books-for-marginals

• In "Rewriting Beirut's 'Bad Boy Architect' Bernard Khoury," Bridget Peak reviews MK Harb's new book on Khoury's controversial projects and their revelations about power, memory, and spectacle in postwar Beirut.
https://bit.ly/rewriting-beiruts-bad-boy-architect-bernard-khoury

📚 [LE BOOK CLUB]Rejoignez Le Book Club animé par Lara Vergnaud, où nous nous réunissons en ligne le premier dimanche de ...
01/09/2026

đź“š [LE BOOK CLUB]

Rejoignez Le Book Club animé par Lara Vergnaud, où nous nous réunissons en ligne le premier dimanche de chaque mois pour discuter des voix essentielles de la région.

Pour les premiers mois de 2026, nous lisons "La naturalisation des immigrés" de Zied Bakir, "Les déterrés" de Katia Behjaoui, et "Le Bastion des lames" d’Abdellah Taïa. Explorez identité, mémoire et résistance à travers la Tunisie et le Maroc en communauté.

đź”— Abonnez-vous : https://bit.ly/le-book-club
— —- —-

Join Le Book Club hosted by Lara Vergnaud, meeting online the first Sunday of each month to discuss vital voices from the region.

For early 2026, we’re reading Zied Bakir’s "La naturalisation des immigrés," Katia Behjaoui’s "Les déterrés," and Abdellah Taïa’s "Le Bastion des lames." Explore identity, memory, and resistance across Tunisia and Morocco in community.

đź”— Subscribe for updates: https://bit.ly/le-book-club

[TMR 56 NOIR]“A Bomb for Personal Use—an excerpt” by Mirna Al-Mahdi (trans. Rana Asfour) is a gritty thriller interweavi...
01/08/2026

[TMR 56 NOIR]

“A Bomb for Personal Use—an excerpt” by Mirna Al-Mahdi (trans. Rana Asfour) is a gritty thriller interweaving multiple perspectives to explore exile, identity, resistance, and the human cost of war.

đź”— Read now: https://bit.ly/a-bomb-for-personal-use-an-excerpt

The Markaz Review is a non-profit literary arts publication by and for the SWANA region and its diasporas, publishing we...
01/08/2026

The Markaz Review is a non-profit literary arts publication by and for the SWANA region and its diasporas, publishing weekly features and themed issues throughout the year.

In 2026, we’re moving to bimonthly issues while continuing to bring readers literature, critique, and culture from the center of the world.

As a small non-profit, we depend on donations to pay our writers and staff and to keep a platform for SWANA publishing alive.

Support stories that matter. Donate today: https://bit.ly/donatetmr

đź“š [TMR BOOK CLUB]Host Rana Asfour leads our first TMR Book Club of 2026 on "My Friends" by Hisham Matar. Three Libyan re...
01/07/2026

đź“š [TMR BOOK CLUB]

Host Rana Asfour leads our first TMR Book Club of 2026 on "My Friends" by Hisham Matar. Three Libyan revolutionaries forge an unlikely bond of friendship in exile after the Gaddafi regime forces them to flee—exploring memory, loyalty, and resistance across decades.

🗓️ Join us Sunday, January 25th at 1pm EST online.

đź”— Sign up to participate: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/yfXMbGErQ1uN2ume1aJFmg #/registration

📰 [TMR WEEKLY]Latest articles in TMR Weekly:• In “The Palestinian Legacy of Mohammad Bakri,” Hadani Ditmars celebrates t...
01/07/2026

đź“° [TMR WEEKLY]

Latest articles in TMR Weekly:

• In “The Palestinian Legacy of Mohammad Bakri,” Hadani Ditmars celebrates the pioneering Palestinian actor and filmmaker’s six-decade career, from “Jenin Jenin” to his latest role as a grandfather fighting for his home.
https://bit.ly/the-palestinian-legacy-of-mohammad-bakri

• In “In Homs, a Theatre Rises from the Ashes,” Iason Athanasiadis visits the renovated Ghassaniya theatre in Syria’s war-torn Old City, where women rebuild the community amid fragile peace.
https://bit.ly/in-homs-a-theatre-rises-from-the-ashes

• In her latest column, “Two Spectacles: A Lebanese Farce, an American Fault Line,” Amal Ghandour juxtaposes a Lebanese scam farce with U.S. MAGA debates on Gaza, finding hope in shifting tides.
https://bit.ly/two-spectacles-a-lebanese-farce-an-american-fault-line

📰 [TMR EDITORIAL TEAM]Swipe to meet Jordan Elgrably, Founder & Editor-in-Chief (Los Angeles-Montpellier)—French, Morocca...
01/06/2026

đź“° [TMR EDITORIAL TEAM]

Swipe to meet Jordan Elgrably, Founder & Editor-in-Chief (Los Angeles-Montpellier)—French, Moroccan, and American writer and translator whose stories and creative nonfiction appear in Apulée, Salmagundi, Paris Review, and more. Cofounder of Levantine Cultural Center/The Markaz; editor of "Stories From the Center of the World" (City Lights 2024) and co-editor of "Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader" (Seven Stories, 2025).

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