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We are delighted to announce that our 62nd issue • COMEDY is now live! We hope you enjoy, share, and most importantly, laugh out loud as you read this issue, which finds much to poke fun at even in this most grief-stricken of timelines. Once again, we return to the prescient Brecht, whose poem “Motto” has often been used to assure us that art persists, that even in the dark times, there will also be singing. We can say the same of comedy, of humor, of laughter, as intrinsic to and defining of what it means to be human as art. For in the dark times—and of the dark times—there is also, always, humor. Featuring writing by: Rabih Alameddine, Sima Qunsol, Pardis Parker, Nour Eldin H., Shahla Ujayli, Rana Asfour, Dana Saleh, Amytis Maleki, Omar Naim, Lara Vergnaud, Jordan Elgrably, Lina Mounzer and Nour Annan. Featuring artwork by: Mazen Kerbaj, RIDIKKULUZ, Sima Qunsol, Ilias Tsagas , Sydney Bhalla, Amine el Bacha, and Amytis Maleki. ✒️ Discover the full issue now: bit.ly/tmr62comedy #TMR62 #TheMarkazReview #Comedy #SWANA #Literature #NewIssue #Essay #Fiction #FlashFiction

We are so proud and excited that two of our editors have been shortlisted for the National Book Award 🏆 • Lara Vergnaud, translator of "PURE MEN" by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, in the Translated Literature category. • Abdelrahman ElGendy for "HUNA", in the Nonfiction category. The ceremony will be livestreamed from Cipriani Wall Street, free for readers everywhere, on Wednesday, November 18, 2026, at 8 p.m. EST. #NationalBookAwards #NBAwards #TranslatedLiterature #Nonfiction #PureMen #Huna

Are you ready to join us for the final title in the 2026 reading series 📚 We are delighted to read Rana Hanna's "Birds in the Rain". Join Rana Asfour and our fabulous reader community to discuss our monthly pick. 🗓️ Join us Sunday, November 27th at 1pm EST/19:00 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

Even in this most grief-stricken of timelines, humor offers us a way to laugh through (and at) our pain. > Discover Lina Mounzer’s editorial now: bit.ly/taking-comedy-serious… ©Artwork by Mazen Kerbaj. #TheMarkazReview #SWANA #SWANAliterature #Comedy #Editorial #LinaMounzer

Our November pick is here, have you started it yet? 📚 We are delighted to read Rana Hanna's "Birds in the Rain". Join Rana Asfour and our fabulous reader community to discuss our monthly pick. 🗓️ Join us Sunday, November 27th at 1pm EST/19:00 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 less

Join the readers and writers of The Markaz Review on a literary journey through Morocco, from Tangiers to Essaouira, as author and guide Zein El-Amine talks about Mohamed Choukri’s classic novel "For Bread Alone", the work of long-time Tangiers resident Paul Bowles, and shares other literary lore along the route. 🗓️ 19 - 30 December 2026, Morocco > Learn more about it now: literaryodysseys.com/morocco #TheMarkazReview #LiteraryOdyssey #Morocco #GuidedTour #LiteraryTour

In this confessional of Israeli war crimes, the filmmakers grant the soldiers an anonymity that they have rejected on the battlefield. > Read Nicki Kattoura’s latest review: bit.ly/if-i-wasnt-there-some… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Naza #Film #FilmReview #Palestine #Gaza

Three American physicians volunteer at one of Gaza's last functioning hospitals—proof that showing up and doing the work can still be its own act of defiance. > Read Alex Demyanenko’s latest review: bit.ly/one-patient-at-a-time… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #AmericanDoctor #Film #FilmReview #Palestine #Gaza

An increasingly repressive Turkish government has impacted the cultural scene in ways that have reshaped artistic production itself. > Discover Naima Morelli’s latest feature: bit.ly/unstable-ground-istan… #TMRWeekly #TheMarkazReview #SWANAliterature #Turkey #Istanbul

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

We’re proud to share our 2027 Best of the Net and Best American Essays nominees — and deeply grateful to our exceptional authors, who made narrowing it down such a difficult (and joyful) task. Read the full works now: linktr.ee/themarkazreview #BestOfTheNet #BestAmericanEssays #LiteraryMagazine #SWANALiterature #LiteraryCommunity

The Markaz Review is now opening submissions for art and photography. Whether you are inspired by one of our submission calls, or you feel your art could find a home at TMR, we want to hear from you! 🔗 Submit your work through Duosuma/Duotrope: bit.ly/tmr-duosuma-submissio… #CallForArt #CallForSubmissions #OpenSubmissions #VisualArt #ContemporaryArt #ArtCommunity #SWANAArt #ArabArt #VisualStorytelling #PhotographyCommunity #ArtistsOfInstagram #TheMarkazReview

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