An independent, ad-free leftist magazine of critical essays, poetry, fiction, and art.

Ahmed Douma is an Egyptian poet and activist. He was a ten-year political prisoner in Egypt between 2013 and 2023. He is the author of two poetry collections, Soutak Talee (Your Voice Is Heard) and Curly, which blend revolutionary zeal with reflections on freedom, oppression, and the human spirit. Curly was published while he was still incarcerated, and the collection was immediately banned in Egypt. A contributing writer at The New Arab, Douma continues to be an influential voice in Egyptian and global discussions on human rights and freedom of expression. His poems and essays, known for their lyrical portrayal of the struggle for justice and liberty, have been featured in various publications. Abdelrahman ElGendy is an Egyptian writer and translator. For six years, he was a political prisoner in Egypt. His writing engages with counter-narratives of history as a form of resistance to erasure. ElGendy’s English work appears in The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Guernica, AGNI, Mizna, Truthout, The Markaz Review, and elsewhere. His Arabic essays and translations appear in Mada Masr, Raseef22, Daraj, and Al-Manassa. His English translation of Mahmoud Darwish’s essay, The Gradual Exile, is forthcoming in The Margins. ElGendy is a Dietrich fellow at the University of Pittsburgh’s Nonfiction Writing MFA, and a Heinz fellow at Pitt’s Global Studies Center. His work has received awards or fellowships from Logan Nonfiction Program, Tin House Workshop, and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. He is the winner of the Turow-Kinder Award in Fiction, and was a finalist for the 2021 and 2023 Margolis Award for Social Justice Journalism.
  • The Boy, Once Holy

    The Boy, Once Holy

    To mark the anniversary of the 2013 Egyptian coup, we’re honored to publish Abdelrahman ElGendy’s translation of Ahmed Douma’s poem “The Boy, Once Holy.” Imprisoned for over a decade by reactionary governments, Douma remains one of the most crucial voices on the Egyptian left and the transnational Palestine solidarity movement.