Dark
Light
The Art of Adaptation
For years, I believed that if I worked hard enough, prepared enough, and proved myself enough, I…
Life in Canada
When Fairuz summed up life in Canada Life in Canada is heaven and hell… cruelty and tenderness… challenges,…
Pilgrim Boy
1 Gates The driver’s holler awakens me as we arrive at JFK. The sun hasn’t yet come up.…
Sprouting Favas in Cairo
“The fava beans have weevils,” she heard her mother telling her father in an exasperated voice. Mariam woke…
The Mirror That Comes Back
Bahram Beyzai and the Ā’īneh of a Wounded Nation In the Persian mystical imagination, the mirror was never…
From the Nile to Hólaá
Preface When I was younger and my father was still alive, I often thought that I…
Bringing Light into the Darkness:
Paintings and Drawings by a Sudanese Master “No politics,” this was the artist’s only request when I asked…
When All Other Lights Go Out:
Wagner, Howard Shore, and the Long Road Home When I was a little boy, sitting alone in the…
To Study by the Sea
For some, the idea sounds like a dream: to study by the sea. It is for my students…
The Lips that Smell of Spirits
Someone will emerge from beyond the dark mountains to the southeast — I wonder who. Every…