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honey & other poems
our taxi driver to muhajareen,the neighborhood where our grandmothersgiggled as schoolgirls together,refused to go up the hill.“it’s too…
Like eating soup with a fork
I do not have autism. I am autistic. Autism is not an illness, like the flu, nor is…
A Sufi on the Path to God
One sorrow extends; another moors itself,folded into sombre-filled nights.Walled in by absence, we seewhat eyes—misled by intuition—miss.Displaced to…
WHALE SONG OVER GAZA CITY: A CONVERSATION WITH ROZY
1. Origins This is Rozy’s story. It’s a story about growing up in Gaza City, about holding…
Epistle and others
EPISTLE Hello my dear,I write this letter to youas the night stretches on.The hour isfour stars shy of…
The Museum of Mistakes
Lobna lived as if apologizing to the world for her presence in it. In her movements, her stillness,…
Echoes Beneath the Water
The scent of chlorine still clings to me as I cross the threshold of my coach’s office, that…
Rowayat 2025 Poetry Contest Shortlist
Our Judge, Sara ElKamel’s Comments on the Finalist: Paul Potts — “i have” I was blown away by…
The Beach at 27
I hate it here. Not here, here, as in this hangar of a…
On Walpole Island
Live in a windowless room long enoughand you will forget how to leave.Life will be splashed out on…
Story, Story
There was, oh that there was (or wasn't),once upon a time in Africa,as in every tale, a death.In…
Circle of the Dead
God favors dead women—wives, lovers, concubines, slaves. Bodies, bird-light, a feather or two on the ground.My grandmothers, aunts,…
Rowayat 2025 Poetry Contest Winner
Our Judge, Sara ElKamel’s Comments : From its very first line, Ruaa Haidar Hassouna’s poem announces itself with…
Issue 13: Forged Kinship
“…kinship is not rooted in the abstract, but in concrete realities—when naming, speaking, and surviving are rights denied…
Cairo: The Letters, Delivered
“These letters in their fictional form are not delivered, but as a book, they are delivered. So as…
Refugee Is Not My Name
The “eco”-blockade and military assault ethnically cleansed Karabakh Have you ever dreamt of becoming a refugee or a…
Make Your Life Count:
Ani Zonneveld’s Memoir is a Rallying Cry for Justice, Joy, and Radical Faith “I follow the Way of…
On the Meaning of Watermelons:
An Exploration of Imagery in Contemporary Palestine In Palestine, the visual realm is…
elephant graveyard
I. elephants are matriarchal creatures traveling in herds of just women. boys leavingwhen they become men, returning years…
What the Road Promised & Others
What the Road Promised Leave.Listen to what the road says,it screeches the name of my people,a throat of…
A Fictional State
Lush plains and endless mountains. I am on my way back to a village left behind centuries ago.…
sanctuary
burns in the midst of a divine spring daybecause grandma is dying in the blue room,and over sweet…
Zift
The first thing I noticed was that he had no thumbs. He was having trouble putting the…
Our Ladies of Perpetual Solitude
The call came before the sun. Teresa walked over to the stove clutching the old, corded phone to…
Interview with Radoslav Rochallyi
A journey into Mathematical Poetry We’re often told that mathematics and poetry orbit in entirely different systems: the…
Dust art and Others
Dust art I slit the dust of the car's rear window and make a tilted tree, staring at…
mint
i spent all too much time in june weeding patches thatbucked up to my kneesbegging,they always grew right…
I was born in other times
I was born in other timesroaming the earth traceless falcon across the skya satchel filled with kindness,a versatile…
Submit to Issue 12: Echoes
We have EXTENDED! Submit now: March 7th- April 8th, 2025, April 21st, 2025. “Write what should not be…
A Room, Languages, and Possibilities: A Conversation with Sara Elkamel
I had the opportunity to interview the award-winning poet Sara Elkamel. Her poetry draws deeply from personal and…
Fleeting Memories
In this memory, I am six, sitting in my elementary school classroom. It’s Valentine’s day and I’ve…
The Voyagers
for Haley and Sarah In Bangkok, today, is King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s cremation. Remember when we grew up in…
I Carried My Father to Uruk & Others
I Carried My Father to Uruk My father taught me how dates,gathered in enough numbers,left to age and…
The Orange Orchard
The orange trees were the scent of my girlhood. I grew up in the house of loquat, mango,…
Issue #10: Borders
Submit from September 15th-October 31st 2024 Issue 10 of Rowayat explores “borders” in all their forms: from the…
A Long Walk From Gaza: An Excerpt
Leave I A body on the cobblestones. Just lying there. I shake him gently to see if he…
A Conversation about “A Long Walk from Gaza”
CN Let’s talk first about the excerpt we have chosen for this special issue of Rowayat, “Connect and…
Carrot Jam
Delicate echoes tolled within my thoughts. The clinking of her bracelets. The whispers of her prayers…
“All the Women in My Life,”
a conversation with Tarek El-Ariss about his memoir Water on Fire: A Memoir of War I can see…
To Tell The Truth Like Tolstoy
An aspiring writer reflects on lessons from the great Russian novelist I came to Tolstoy when…
“The Women and Memory Forum: An Intellectual Project with an Activist Agenda”
Championing Arab Women’s Voicesــــ A Conversation with Hoda Elsadda For decades, the knowledge produced by Arab women has…
Feature Poem: “Love” by Iman Mersal, translated into English by Robyn Creswell
Selected for Rowayat Issue 8: Connect & Sustain by Guest Editor Rahat Kurd THE THRESHOLD brings the poems…
Feature Poem: “Love” by Iman Mersal, translated into English by Robyn Creswell
Robyn Creswell is the translator of Iman Mersal’s poetry collection THE THRESHOLD, published by Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux…
Issue 8: Connect & Sustain
At this time when we are witnessing ruthless generational destruction. Rowayat affirms that the sanctity of life means…
Lebanon
I heard of a place so far awaywhich I may never knowwith girls like me of hair like…
Allah Karim & Mama wants an Arab man more than she wants a good daughter
Allah Karim I always remember you wrong becausesomehow you are always warmer, gentler to the right of me…
I am from…
After George Ella Lyon I am from green Coleman stoves and hand-carved cherry canoe paddles that left their…
RUMMANIYEH
I remember a woman hovering over her olive-wood-fashioned board, buried under fresh pomegranates and eggplants for the preparation…
PAKISTANI IMPROV
If there is a Couchsurfing destination par excellence, it is Pakistan. I can’t think of a nation…
Beirut: On Weathering Wars
Beirut often feels like a ghost town. Streets that used to be lined with party-goers and late-diners are…
The Ghost of My Grandfather
أعاتبُ طيفهُ إن لم يزرني لعل الطيف أوعى للعتابِ “I chide his specter if he doesn’t visit…
Midwestern Elegy & A Candle. A Grave. My Grief is Unspecific.
Midwestern Elegy Everything in July is heavy; the airwith moisture, the sun on tall prairie grass.Crickets groan in…
Safari
Eyes trained in envystare straight into my solar plexus.Africa! Gosh you’re so lucky!But one day, before the sun…