What a literary treat to see the latest mini issue of the Markaz Review with a focus on Kurdish literature - I may be biased as I consider Aryan Omar Hassan (of @henarpress.bsky.social) a friend, but his review of the novel “Hyper” by @agri.bsky.social is hilarious. themarkaz.org/agri-ismails...

History has always been contested, but #AI is making it easier than ever to rewrite the past. Salil Tripathi explores how history is at risk of being overly simplified, erasing marginalised voices: www.indexoncensorship.org/2025/11/hist...

Some interesting books on this longlist! I’ve been enjoying reading Kurdish writer Fatma Aydemir’s ‘Djinns’ lately (translated from German by @jpolizei.bsky.social). Looks like there are some other titles I need to add to my ever-growing “to read” pile!

To celebrate the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah from prison, the ebook edition of YOU HAVE NOT YET BEEN DEFEATED, tr. an anonymous collective, is available to download for free for the next week via all ebook platforms, including Kindle and Apple Books, until 30 September.

Today’s the first day of Autumn, so I thought I’d share this beautiful poem by Kurdish poet Qubad Jalil-Zada:

کزەی پایز بەڕێوەیە

دارستان لەبری خۆی داپۆشێت،

خۆی ڕوت دەکاتەوە.

The cool breeze of autumn is coming

but instead of covering herself,

the forest is undressing.

Looking forward to the next book club hosted by The Markaz Review. I loved reading Sand-Catcher and found it surprisingly funny as well as moving.

I’m so pleased to have had the chance to be involved in helping to expand @henarpress.bsky.social’s database of Kurdish Literature in English & glad that others are as excited about it as we are!

Henar Press is absolutely delighted to announce that we will be hosting a virtual reading for Sleeping in the Courtyard: Contemporary Kurdish Writers in Diaspora (University of Arkansas Press).

Please RSVP to receive the Zoom link: forms.gle/ArUEqXotVm8k...

This article in The Guardian on the launch of GlobeScribe is worth reading.

Ian Giles, chair of the SoA's Translators Association argues Globescribe “may claim to unlock global access for fiction, but their approach sidelines the very people who make literature resonate across cultures"

Looking forward to the release of this new collection of Kurdish women’s writing, published by @uarkpress.bsky.social - Thanks Holly Mason Badra for bringing together writing from this broad range of voices from Kurdistan & the diaspora.

Jan Dost: “We wrote novels and poetry collections in our mother tongue without ever studying it at school or university… It’s what I call a shadow literature."

Interesting article on the politics & personal tensions of writing in Kurdish & Arabic.
bit.ly/43zbB0x

🔥 GIVEAWAY 🔥 Feeling lucky? We're giving away 5 copies of 𝘙𝘰𝘫𝘢𝘷𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴: 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴! To enter, follow AK Press and share this post. Shipping to US & Canada, but we'll send an e-book if you're somewhere else. We'll announce the winners 2/18 (release day!) www.akpress.org/rojava-in-fo...

From this list, I’m especially looking forward to reading ‘On the Greenwich Line’ by Shady Lewis (published by Peirene Press next month). #booksky

Reflecting on the books I read last year, one of my favourites was 'My Friends' by Hisham Matar. I found myself pausing on page after page to take in the gentle poetry of Matar's descriptions. The book is a beautiful exploration of the fragility of friendship in a context of exile.

‘Someone in prison fears being forgotten, fears that their voice won’t be heard. People would tell me during visitations, “Your books are being read.” “They’re being translated into different languages”.. Knowing this gave me immense strength.’ - Kurdish poet, İlhan Sami Çomak

bit.ly/4f9lNPs