“Ravens, Cream, solitude, sublimity”: Virginia Woolf on Literature & Inner Peace

How many of us, “congenial spirits” are left out there, as Woolf writes in The Voyage Out (1915), “feel[ing] intensely the delights of shutting oneself up in a little world of one’s own, with pictures and music and everything beautiful.” Continue reading “Ravens, Cream, solitude, sublimity”: Virginia Woolf on Literature & Inner Peace

Finding Beauty ‘In Our Times of Greatest Love and Greatest Fear’: The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

Lefteri approaches her characters’ vulnerability in such a gentle, graceful way that the novel feels heart-warming and hopeful despite the horrifying reality millions of people worldwide face today. Continue reading Finding Beauty ‘In Our Times of Greatest Love and Greatest Fear’: The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

A Man without a Country: In Quest of a Homeland by Yousof Mamoor

The value of In Quest of a Homeland for me lies in its honesty and contribution to, in historian Juliet Gardiner’s terms (1988), history as an ongoing dialogue between the present and the past. Continue reading A Man without a Country: In Quest of a Homeland by Yousof Mamoor

Ece Temelkuran’s Together: Heart-Shaped Stones, Whitman & Us

Together is, indeed, a crucial text that is brutally, lovingly, and magically real. It is the ultimate celebration of our kind and what we can achieve to not only survive but to survive beautifully. Continue reading Ece Temelkuran’s Together: Heart-Shaped Stones, Whitman & Us

The Power of Narrative & Why Edward Said Would Be Proud: 35 Palestinian Narratives to Read

Edward Said’s call to “narrate” and “record” has never stopped being relevant in the Palestinian struggle. In fact, Palestinian narratives have taken an increasingly important role in the resistance against the systemic erasure of their history. Continue reading The Power of Narrative & Why Edward Said Would Be Proud: 35 Palestinian Narratives to Read

‘What is Time?’: The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali |Iran

The Stationery Shop is not merely a love story; it is part of recorded history, a cautionary tale, if you will. Continue reading ‘What is Time?’: The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali |Iran