We are delighted to announced that our 61st issue • ANTHROPOCENE is now live! Across these works, land remembers; animals disappear and return; seeds evade the archive; water carries traces of violence; bodies, ruins, and elements hold what history tries to erase and revolt as freedom fighters. Again and again, these pieces ask us to attend to what it means to understand that “land, like language, is inherited.” Featuring work by: Abdelrahman ElGendy, Nour Annan, Cynthia Kreishati, Hamed al-Nazir, Rana Asfour (@bookfabulous), lisa minerva luxx, Sema Kaygusuz (@KaygusuzSema) Nicholas Glastonbury (@nsglastonbury), Nour Shtayyeh, Balsam Karam, Saskia Vogel, Samira Makki, Sherena Razek, Silvia Hassounia, Maya Salameh (@mayaslmh), Umniya Najaer and George Abraham (@IntifadaBatata). ✒️ Discover the full issue now: bit.ly/TMR61anthropocene #TMR61 #TheMarkazReview #Anthropocene #SWANA #Literature #NewIssue #SpeculativeFiction #Ecology

Humour has always helped us laugh at the taboo, challenge power, and slip hard truths past the guards. Our upcoming issue, COMEDY, explores exactly that: Egyptian meme culture, Palestinian stand-up in a time of genocide, sharp interviews, hilarious fiction, and an exclusive new story by Rabih Alameddine. TMR 62 • COMEDY • Out on November 6. #Comedy #TheMarkazReview #RabihAlameddine #LiteraryMagazine #MiddleEasternLiterature #StandUpComedy #MemeCulture

Belal Fadl transforms the lives of Cairo's urban poor into an irreverent picaresque that tests the limits of literary translation. > Read Salma Harland's latest review: bit.ly/sorry-no-pharaohs-her… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Translation #Egypt #Cairo #BookReview

Israel's strategy in Gaza and Lebanon’s south is less a new military design than an "old and improved" version of its national security concept. > Read Amal Ghandour’s (@ghandour_ag) latest column: bit.ly/a-sunday-walk-to-the-… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Lebanon #Palestine #ThisArabLife

Tunis’ ancient citadel is threatened by climate change and incompetence, but could also offer solutions to hotter, wetter conditions. > Discover Iason Athanasiadis’ latest feature: bit.ly/tunisias-fading-medin… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Tunisia #Tunis

For the first time, editors and publishers from across the SWANA region and its diasporas came together in Montpellier. From 2–5 October 2026, The Markaz Review convened the inaugural SWANA Editors & Publishers Conference: A Literary Consortium—three days of dialogue, translation, field-mapping, and hands-on work toward shared infrastructure, solidarity, and cross-border collaboration. We brought together writers, translators, editors, and publishers to ask a vital question: what could a stronger, more connected SWANA literary ecosystem look like? The conference was hosted in partnership with the City of Montpellier and supported by the Open Society Foundations. #SWANA #SWANALiterature #LiteraryPublishing #TheMarkazReview #Montpellier #Translation #IndependentPublishing #LiteraryCommunity

The SWANA region has given the world some of its greatest writers. Now The Markaz Prize is here to discover the next generation. We are looking for bold new voices in short fiction and literary essay/creative nonfiction. Submit your work to The Markaz Review Literary Prizes before October 30, 2026. 🗓️ Deadline: October 30, 2026 🔗 Learn more and submit your work now: themarkaz.org/literaryprizes… #SWANALiterature #LiteraryContest #ArabDiasporaWriters #EmergingWriters #IndependentLitMag

Among fossils, bones, and vanished species, a group of wardens discovers what the state failed to eradicate. > Discover an excerpt of “Pure Beast”, a work of fiction by Sema Kaygusuz, tr. by Nicholas Glastonbury: bit.ly/wardens-of-the-world-… #TMR61 #TheMarkazReview #Anthropocene #SWANA #Kurdish #Kurdistan #Literature #SpeculativeFiction

عن ناعسة زوجة أيوب وتمثلاتها في التراث الشعبي المصري، تكتب مي المغربي مقالًا محرضًا على التأمل. يمكنكم قراءة المقال كاملًا من خلال الرابط التالي: themarkaz.org/ekhteraa/ #المركز_بالعربي #مي_المغربي #اختراع_ناعسة

Syrian Lebanese American poet Maya Salameh examines how war and militarization become embedded in the routines and infrastructures of everyday life. > Discover the poems: bit.ly/inhuman-resources-sel… #TMR61 #TheMarkazReview #Anthropocene #SWANA #ArabLit #Literature #Poetry #Poems

A Sudanese novel by Hamed Al-Nazir (excerpt tr. by Rana Asfour) follows characters navigating love, loss, and identity in a country where memories are blurred by war. > Read the excerpt now: bit.ly/the-lemon-tree-family… #Anthropocene #HamedAl-Nazir #Fiction #Sudan #Translation

Natalie Boumatar is reading an excerpt of “Seven Plates”, a short story featured in our latest Fiction Desk. > Discover Natalia Boumatar’s latest fiction: bit.ly/seven-plates-a-short-… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Fiction #ShortStory

In this first-place winner of the Azhar Short Story Prize, a woman cares for an elderly couple who, like her, live in the shadow of an uncertain return. > Discover Natalia Boumatar’s latest fiction: bit.ly/seven-plates-a-short-… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Fiction #ShortStory

In our latest Fiction Desk, Anas Tareef’s short story follows a woman returns to post-Assad Syria to discover whether the home she has carried with her still exists. Listen to a short excerpt, narrated by the author 🎧 > Read the full story now: bit.ly/remnants-a-short-stor… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Syria #ShortStory #Fiction #Reading

Ibtisam Azem, International Booker longlisted author, on writing through uncertainty, the limits of fiction, and the quiet of the page. > Ibtisam Azem in conversation with Saleem Haddad read now: bit.ly/seven-questions-with-… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Palestine #IbtisamAzem #AuthorInterview #SevenQuestions

Anas Tareef, author of 'Remnants', reflects on his short story, the craft of writing, and the idea of return. > Anas Tareef in conversation with Saleem Haddad: bit.ly/behind-the-story-anas… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Syria #ShortStory #Fiction #AuthorInterview

In Ibtisam Azem's new novel, absurdity becomes the only way to explore the current Palestinian condition. > Discover Ilham Essalih’s latest review: bit.ly/every-grain-of-sand-h… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Fiction #BookReview #Bookstagram

A woman returns to post-Assad Syria to discover whether the home she has carried with her still exists. > Discover Anas Tareef’s short story: bit.ly/remnants-a-short-stor… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Syria #ShortStory #Fiction

Umniya Najaer moves between missiles and minerals, geological time and imagined futures, transforming the page into a site of planetary and bodily encounter. > Discover Umniya Najaer's poems: bit.ly/the-ossuary-of-evolvi… #TMR61 #TheMarkazReview #Anthropocene #Poetry #Poems

Meet the judges of The Markaz Literary Prizes ✒️ We are honoured to bring together an extraordinary panel of writers, editors, and literary voices to judge the inaugural prizes in short story and literary essay/creative nonfiction. Discover the judges who will be championing bold new work from the SWANA region and its diasporas 📚 We’re proud to be supported by the de Groot Foundation, the Hawthornden Foundation, and other supporters, and to work in close collaboration with the Caine Prize for African Writing. Submissions for fiction and creative nonfiction are open until Oct. 30: themarkaz.org/literaryprizes… #TheMarkazReview #TheMarkazLiteraryPrizes #LiteraryPrize #SWANA #SWANALit #Diaspora #CreativeNonfiction #LiteraryEssay #ShortStory

Our October pick is here, have you started it yet? 📚 We are delighted to read Eman Quotah's "The Night Is Not For You". Join Rana Asfour and our fabulous reader community to discuss our monthly pick. 🗓️ Join us Sunday, October 25th at 1pm EST/18:00 CET online. > This online event is free but advance registration is required. > Sign up now: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi… #TMRBookClub #Bookclub #TheMarkazReview #Bookstagram #ReadingCommunity #SWANAliterature