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New Poetry: ‘The Tent Is Closing in on Us’
My body recognizes the feel of the air inside tents. It’s well-acquainted with the windy nights and the scorching days and everything in between. The humidity, relentless in both summer and winter,...
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When October is No Longer Green: A Poet’s Reflections on the Continuing War...
By Adil Babikir October holds a special place in the modern history of Sudan. During this month, sixty years ago, the Sudanese people overthrew the first military dictatorship in what became the Arab...
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‘When the Genocide is Over’: New Poetry by Basman Eldirawi
When the Genocide is Over By Basman Eldirawi When the genocide is over I’ll walk on tiptoe Searching for my friends’ graves Thinking of words to write for Eman, Ouda, Essa Maybe an apology, but not on...
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‘Grief, a Wolf,’: New Poetry by Olivia Elias
Grief, a Wolf, December 31, 2024, by Olivia Elias, translated from French by Jérémy Victor Robert * in these barbaric times….I live like a sick person forced to save her energies consumed by...
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New Poetry: Doha Kahlout’s ‘Goodbye, War…’
Goodbye, War… By Doha Kahlout I will return without you, war— I will cut my nails stained by the black of fire and by bitter alienation, and I will let down my hair, matted with seasalt, abandoning...
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New Poetry: Nour Balousha’s ‘Feet Unable to Arrive’
Nour Balousha’s “Feet Unable to Arrive” appears in the new anthology from Trace Press, Arabic, between Love and War, edited by Norah Alkharashi & Yasmine Haj, and is reprinted here with permission....
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Translating the Unseen: Gaza’s Sky and Anne Carson’s Vision
Translating the Unseen: Gaza’s Sky and Anne Carson’s Vision By Alaa Alqaisi It began with an email from Dr. James Heaney, a professor of English and Irish studies at Carlow University, requesting my...
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New Poetry: Sargon Boulus’s ‘A Story’
A Story By Sargon Boulus Translated by Miles Cayman Suddenly by chance and without warning The table had Vanished, the guests dispersed And with the rain poured down onto the roof Anonymous bullets...
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New Poetry: Sargon Boulus’s ‘Baudelaire’s Pain Arrived’
Baudelaire’s Pain Arrived By Sargon Boulus Translated by Miles Cayman I’ve arrived at the edge. I began as a herder, ravaging an archipelago stripped of souls. In the past that is impossible to catch...
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New Poetry by Ramzi Salem: ‘A Body of Nakedness’
A Body of Nakedness By Ramzi Salem Translated by the author On this night, my dear, .we follow the trail of torn stars, .with no fear of lightning, .no fear that the sky will fall upon us. .We patch...
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New Poetry in Translation: Anas al-Ghouri’s ‘Dream-Drenched Theft’
This poem comes from the collection ذات حافية، نصوص عارية انسانياً (Barefoot Soul: Narratives Stripped of Humanity). Dream-Drenched Theft By Anas al-Ghouri Translated by Victoria Issa When I was a...
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‘Dialogue’: A Poem by Mostafa Ibrahim
Dialogue By Mostafa Ibrahim Translated by Abdelrahman ElGendy (1) The world whispered to the boy in class: “Either you trace my lessons, or live them. Forget the blackboard.” The photographer told the...
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From Mohamed N.M. Ali’s ‘The Call of Stillness’
Translated and introduced by Fatima Elbadri Acclaimed Sudanese poet Mohamed N.M. Ali dedicates his latest collection, “نداء السكون” (The Call of Stillness), to “all of Sudan, the people, its land, and...
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Ibrahim Nasrallah’s ‘Do You Hear Me? What Now?’
Do You Hear Me? What Now? By Ibrahim Nasrallah Translated by susan abulhawa What now? We tell you now, as we told you seventy-seven years ago: What now? You slaughtered us with a bloodlust no...
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Nasser Rabah’s ‘I Was Sand’
This poem is set to appear in Nasser Rabah’s Gaza: The Poem Said Its Piece, which is available for pre-order from City Lights, and appears here with permission. Coming April 2025. I Was Sand By Nasser...
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New Poetry after Darwish: ‘In Praise of What Is No Longer Ours’
The great twentieth-century poet Mahmoud Darwish was born on this day in 1941. Today, author-translator Alaa Alqaisi shares a letter to Darwish and a poem, after Darwish’s “In Praise of the High...
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Fadwa Tuqan: ‘The Last Flower atop Memory’s Stone’
The Last Flower atop Memory’s Stone By Fadwa Tuqan Translated by Adey Almohsen What follows is a short poem by Fadwa Tuqan, one of Palestine’s most eminent poets. The poem did not make it to her...
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Two Poems by Haitham K. Al-Zubbaidi
A Helmet of Brass By Haitham K. Al-Zubbaidi Translated by Ali Layth Azeez Nothing in me betrays the clouds’ expectations except that I am so deep in aridity. Nothing in me stirs the stars’ wonder...
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New Poetry in Translation: Enter ‘Butterfly’s Burden’
Enter “Butterfly’s Burden” By Dalia Taha Translated by Sara Elkamel for Mahmoud Darwish I picked up “The Butterfly’s Burden” and could not put it down. Every poem I read, I read again, and it was...
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New Poetry by Hameed Qasim: ‘Baghdad Melancholy’
Baghdad Melancholy By Hameed Qasim Translated by Ghareeb Iskander 1 When I went out I forgot my scent in her room And I left—by mistake—my fingers on the bed, searching For the salt of her body...
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