Sixtus Chetachi Igbokwe reviews Chibueze Anuonye’s edited anthology Who Gave the Order? A History of a People’s Movement (2025).
July 13, 2026
July 08, 2026
In this excerpt from Demetria Martinez’s novel-in-progress, a person seeking healing from trauma visits a curandera.
News & Events
“When I wake in the night, I tell myself it is for no reason. I should do the impossible and go back to sleep, as there is safety under the blanket, even though this is not true elsewhere in the world where, at this moment, missiles are igniting refineries,” from “What We Don't Know,” by Carolyn Forché
“I find myself returning to the halls of the campus, / the memory of our meeting, the persistence / of our love in those early uncertain years,” from “Welcome,” by Kwame Dawes
“The start of the XIX century transpired in the XIX century. / At that time, everyone lived as if in the XIX century. / They were all completely fed up with the XVIII century, / And preferred to leave the XX century for later,” from “The Nineteenth Century, by Sergej Timofejev”
Reflecting on war and its rhetoric, Sholeh Wolpé examines why a twelfth-century Iranian Sufi mystic poet’s work is as timely as ever.
From NYC Street Vendors: Food Trucks, Coffee Carts, Market Stalls, and More (Prestel, 2026). Published by permission.
Yahia Lababidi reflects on Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali, whose poems tend the flame of conscience.
On April 3, 2026, Haleh Liza Gafori and Mina Raminsabet took part in a discussion of Persian literature and culture during the 2026 Puterbaugh Lit Fest.
The owner of a Tehran bookstore describes staying open through the current war and during preceding upheavals—and the books to which people turn for guidance, now sold out.
A contemporary translator shares excerpts from Rumi, who incorporated everyday words drawn from the Sufi lexicon as he addresses concerns ranging from materialism and warmongering to spiritual communion and the evolution of consciousness.
After the Bear
In this story from the collection Animales (Animals), by Santiago Craig, the legend of a talking bear transforms a town.
This House Belongs to Absence
Walking the streets of her South Delhi neighborhood, a writer observes the changes ushered in with new money and reflects on novels about houses and those who once occupied them.
Miracle
“As a child, I adored fire; I was like a moth to every candle. My mother tried to keep me away from open flames, but my grandmother used to say, Lassa, ca iscramentat—let her be, so she learns.”
A Record of What Might Have Been and a Warning for the Future: 7 Questions for Oliver Basciano
An interview with Oliver Basciano,author of Outcast: A History of Leprosy, Humanity, and the Modern World (Graywolf, 2026).
Reyna Grande’s Migrant Heart: Talking about Things She Can’t Forget
An interview with Reyna Grande, author of Migrant Heart: Essays about Things I Can't Forget
“Red Flags at High Mast”: 6 Questions for Deb Olin Unferth
6 Questions for Deb Olin Unferth, author of Earth 7
