The 2025 AWP Conference & Bookfair takes place March 26–29, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Join Mizna for a long … Continue reading "Mizna at AWP 2025"

Thunder drummed in jubilation as our tires tangoed with the city’s cobblestones, and we rode like Khalid and Abu Obiedah, banging on the city’s gates, claiming Damascus as our own. We were her boys, and she gently embraced us, pulling the cover of rain over to protect us. Our clothes, drenched and heavy with rain, clung tightly. We were soaked to the last inch of our bodies. We wore soft, innocent smiles. Not a word was uttered.

In the past few decades, as liberal cultural institutions have grown more dastardly effective at co-opting and defanging the political … Continue reading "Uncrafted #2: An Interview with Sarah Aziza"

English below دعوةٌ لِلمشاركةِ فِي عددٍ مِن مجلَّةِ مزنة خاصٍّ بِغزَّة: إصدارٌ خاصٌّ مِن وإلى الكُتّابِ والكاتباتِ الغزِّيِّينَ/اتَ معَ المُحَرِّرِ … Continue reading "Call for Submissions | دعوةٌ لِلمشاركات"

Mizna welcomes Moheb Soliman, who will begin as Executive Editor and Literary Programs, taking over from George Abraham’s distinguished period … Continue reading "Moheb Soliman Rejoins Mizna Staff as Executive Editor and Literary Programs Director"

The 2025 Mizna Film Series presents some of our favorite archival classics from the past 60 years of Iran’s cinema … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series 2025: Iranian Classics"

Mizna is pleased to announce our 2025 Pushcart Prize Nominations. The Pushcart Prize is an annual award and publication that … Continue reading "2025 Pushcart Prize Nominations"

PLEASE READ THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES CAREFULLY, UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS SENT TO OUR EMAIL AND SUBMISSIONS THAT DO NOT ADHERE TO THE … Continue reading "Call for Submissions: Mizna Summer Issue 26.1"

here: here: here: here: take what I have in exchange (but what do I have?) just this:

Dear sky,  where were you when our homes were being bombed?

how evergreen.

  Mizna is thrilled to announce that we have been awarded the Anan Ameri Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arab American National Musuem. … Continue reading "Mizna Wins Arab American Book Award: Anan Ameri Lifetime Achievement Award"

They say the father refused to be a collaborator. And the mother, a physician, a specific kind of witness, had looked at her killers the wrong way.

the professor likes to do magic tricks & i hate him for it. he uses tricks to get out of needing to explain the mechanistic truth behind reactions.

I might turn               twenty               next month I might not. . .

She has bound herself to listening and has been careful not to speak for her subjects. Even the very act of stealing the camera is part of this redressing.

I await her daily dispatches so I can edit and publish them. I get this homework done quickly, afraid any tardiness would disappoint the teacher.

Take a look at what Mizna achieved in 2023.

But for me, the ways in which poems allow a reader to access feeling, I think those are also the ways in which poems are really useful political tools. Because a poem does not allow politics to be disentangled from the material reality of feeling.

If I could, Dear martyr, I would not leave you here In a poem, but in my arms

Translation is exile. I have nothing left to say but I’ll say it.

May 4, 2024 Read our follow-up statement from May 8, 2024 below. We condemn Kansas City Art Institute’s (KCAI) unilateral … Continue reading "On Kansas City Art Institute’s Cancellation of Mizna’s “Writers for Palestine”"

Don’t tell them I’m Armenian.  A colleague told me she recommended a book about the genocide to her student. She was called into the headmaster’s office the next day. Turn the movie back on. 

Here we are: gathering our dusty, disheveled hair to weave a gray painting that surpasses the work of the greatest artists. It’s not yellow or blue, but entirely gray—blood gleaming in the center

Guest editor Barrak AlzaidCo-editor Aram Kavoossi Deadline extended: Submissions are open now through June 30, 2024 SUBMIT YOUR WORK HERE … Continue reading "Call for Submissions: The Futurities Issue"

As Mizna is marking its twenty-fifth anniversary year, our small team is reflecting on our history of presenting, connecting, and … Continue reading "Mizna: 25 Years"

Upon arriving in the US for the Palestine Writes Conference in September 2023, Gazan poet Yahya Ashour could have never … Continue reading "A Gaza of Siege & Genocide"

Mizna seeks thoughtful candidates to apply for paid internship positions and assist with an array of compelling programming this summer. … Continue reading "Call for Interns: Summer 2024"

Each morning, as the first rays of sunlight pierce through the darkness, I find myself drawn to the window, searching for that familiar sight. And when I see them—those vibrant kites painted against the backdrop of the azure sky—my heart swells with a sense of hope that defies the despair that threatens to consume us.

Insurgent Transmissions is a film series highlighting the varied Palestinian experience. Made by contemporary Palestinian makers, the films depict the … Continue reading "Insurgent Transmissions: A Palestine Film Series"

I’ve gone back to the vital distinction between an ally, whose solidarity often forms part of their online persona and public brand, and an accomplice, who stands by the oppressed, complicit in the pursuit of justice, bearing alongside them the repercussions of refusing to execute.

Death is extending a hand of redemption, with a forceful yank. When I retract my hand, he seizes my head and gazes into my eyes, urging me to tread in his path.

In January, Assistant Editor Aram Kavoossi sat down for a Zoom conversation with Lucia Kagramanyan, host of the bimonthly Panorama … Continue reading "A Spectrum of Cultural Memory—In Conversation with Lucia Kagramanyan of Panorama Yerevan"

Peace is for every brother who like an enemy besieges us and every brother who passes over our death to build his throne on our ruins.

every word in every language will sing their names & the places their names grew out of

Regretfully, I had to leave all my books behind. I couldn't bear to make the choice between my beloveds, so I left them all. Give them back. Give us back our beds. Give us back our offices. And give us back our books.

The 2024 AWP Conference & Bookfair takes place February 7–10, 2024 in Kansas City, Oklahoma. Join Mizna for a long … Continue reading "Mizna at AWP 2024"

I have come to learn that skateboarding has always given me space to be with myself and it was not until I moved back to Palestine that I could try to shed the layers that had weighed me down.

The shopkeeper’s eyebrows were raised—not so much in disbelief, it was just the way he looked, the way God made him. People are dying and you’re here looking for a chocolate bar. You’re weird.

In 2024, the quarterly Mizna Film Series (MFS) returns to the Trylon Cinema with a program entitled Feminist Visions. Since … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series 2024: Feminist Visions–SWANA Cinema by and about Women"

My friend says, why do you rob the characters of their right to speak, why don’t you narrate Esmat’s real story, why don’t we know Layan Kayed’s story except through what you tell us, why doesn’t Nadir el-Saamry speak? I reply that these stories are not journalism—why does everything have to be so clear and detailed if a story is all we know about a person?

In light of recent events in Palestine—and more specifically, the Poetry Foundation’s censorship of pro-Palestinian voices and refusal to take a public stance on the genocidal … Continue reading "Press release: As Poetry Foundation Censors Pro-Palestine Voices, Mizna Uses Their Grant for Palestine"

Then we can freely break out a song of eternity on the hill of slaughter, until the ones who were killed say loudly: Here we returned, and this is the beginning of infinity.

Fast for GazaDecember 21, 2023: Sunrise to SunsetContinuing every Thursday until a permanent ceasefire is called We have had enough.This … Continue reading "Fast for Gaza"

O little light in me, don’t die, even if all the galaxies of the world close in.

by Meg Amad After receiving messages from members of her community expressing frustration at how they have been represented while … Continue reading "Media Tips for Palestine"

from womb to breath and one with oneness I be, from the river to the sea.

Please read the full call for submissions carefully, as our guidelines have changed. All submissions that do not adhere to … Continue reading "Call for Submissions: Mizna 25.1"

As the genocidal attack on Gaza has led to tens of thousands of civilian deaths and counting, we reaffirm our … Continue reading "Toward a Free Palestine: Resources to Act for and Learn About Palestine"

We write this as workers, students, farmers, parents – as Palestinians, as queer Palestinians. We write this not because our … Continue reading "A Liberatory Demand from Queers in Palestine"

Again, Fanon’s words come to mind: “The town belonging to the colonized people . . . the native town, the Negro village, the medina, the reservation, is a place of ill fame, peopled by men of evil repute. They are born there, it matters little where or how; they die there, it matters not where, nor how.”

An excellent guarantee against orthodoxy,” variation in the Arabic folkloric canon comes to form a mode of collective composition where authenticity stems not from the triumphant excavation of a uniform, authoritative text, but from the very presence of variants themselves.

Films selected to be part of the 2023 Arab Film Festival films are in the running to win juried awards … Continue reading "Announcing the 2023 Arab Film Festival Awards"

Mizna has been named as a recipient of the prestigious Whiting Literary Magazine Prize. Founded in 2018, the prize’s purpose … Continue reading "Press Release: Mizna Journal Awarded Prestigious Whiting Literary Prize"

The Radius of Arab American Writers and Mizna are excited to host Mizna+RAWIFest, RAWI’s bi-annual conference for 2023, in RAWI’s … Continue reading "RAWIfest 2023"

When we sit down and read a poem, what I believe is happening is that there’s this alchemical process between the words on the page — the imagination and the craft of the writer — and the subjectivity, the imagination, the personal history of the individual reader.

KEVORKIAN’S EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE COMES AT A PERIOD OF CRITICAL ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH AT MIZNA Mizna is pleased to announce the appointment … Continue reading "Mizna Appoints Ellina Kevorkian as Deputy Director"

Call for submissions, Mizna: The Cinema Issue, Winter 2023. The deadline has been extended to June 26, 2023. Mizna is … Continue reading "Call for Submissions: The Cinema Issue"

The 2023 AWP Conference & Bookfair takes place March 8–11, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. Join Mizna for a long weekend … Continue reading "Mizna at AWP 2023"

Mizna: Black SWANA Takeover, guest-edited by acclaimed poet Safia Elhillo and produced by an all-Black takeover team, was released February … Continue reading "Mizna 23.2: Black SWANA Takeover"

Starting February 2023, Mizna Film Series transitions from a monthly film series to quarterly screenings. Screenings will take place exclusively … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series 2023: Resistant Images- Restoring, Recovering and Reimagining Palestinian Archival Film"

ABOUT MIZNA Mizna is a critical platform for contemporary literature, film, art, and cultural production centering the work of Arab … Continue reading "Call for Guest Editor: The Cinema Issue"

Mizna is pleased to announce its 2023 Pushcart Prize Nominees: Fahad Al-Amoudi, Cinnabar Island, Mizna 23.2: The Black SWANA Issue … Continue reading "2023 Pushcart Prize Nominations"

Etel Adnan passed away last year on November 14, 2021 at the age of 96, leaving behind a wealth of … Continue reading "For Etel"

On the one year anniversary of her death, Mizna celebrates the life and legacy of the prolific artist, writer, and … Continue reading "Luminance: A Tribute Event for Etel Adnan"

The 2022 Arab Film Fest is coming to Tulsa! After a successful debut last year, the festival returns for a … Continue reading "Arab Film Fest Tulsa 2022"

The Mizna Film Series is a monthly selection of programs, marking our first venture into year-round curated film programming. While … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series Fall 2022: Arab Film Fest Extended"

This text is published as part of Mizna: 23.1: Tribute to Etel Adnan. Available to order here. Ismyrna begins with the recollection … Continue reading "Looking Through the Eternal Present —Marie-Nour Hechaime interviews Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige"

Saturday August 20, 2022, Mizna virtually launched our summer issue, Mizna 23.1. This virtual event features readings by Ibtisam M. … Continue reading "Mizna 23.1 Virtual Launch"

In celebration of the life of Sarah Hegazi, two years after her tragic death, join us for a loving Pride … Continue reading "I WANT SKY in New York: A reading for Sarah Hegazi"

The Mizna Film Series is a monthly selection of programs, marking our first venture into year-round curated film programming. While … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series Summer 2022: Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige Retrospective"

This summer, Mizna celebrates the life and legacy of the prolific artist, writer, and philosopher Etel Adnan in a series … Continue reading "Luminance: A Tribute to Etel Adnan"

This text is published as part of Mizna: The Experimental Issue, guest-edited by Tarik Dobbs. Available to order here. By Tarik … Continue reading "What is experimental work, anyways? Foreword to Mizna 22.2: The Experimental Issue"

Mizna is seeking thoughtful candidates to apply for paid internship positions and assist with an array of compelling programming this … Continue reading "Call for Interns: Summer 2022"

The winter 2021 issue of Mizna, guest-edited by Tarik Dobbs, challenges conventional forms, language, and ideas within literary processes and traditions. Contributions from George … Continue reading "Mizna: The Experimental Issue"

The Mizna Film Series is a monthly selection of programs, marking our first venture into year-round curated film programming. While … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series Spring 2022: Restored/Recovered: Algerian Filmmaking in Diaspora"

interview by Tarik Dobbs

This issue comes after two years of global uprising against racism, fascism, and settler colonialism. Following the murder of George … Continue reading "Call for Submissions: The Black SWANA Issue"

I am but my love for my land, by the way, I have chosen you, my homeland, in love and in obedience                                                                             in secret and in public.

On Sunday, January 30, Mizna launches The Experimental Issue with TWENTY ONE AUTHORS. WATCH HERE Featured readers include Mays Albaik, … Continue reading "The Experimental Issue Virtual Launch"

The Mizna Film Series is a monthly selection of programs, marking our first venture into year-round curated film programming. While … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series Winter 2022: Palestine Focus, Route 181"

Ruba ElMelik, Aram Kavoossi and Mizna Community Purchase your copy of Mizna 22.1 here. As Mizna asserts its identity beyond … Continue reading "Mizna 22.1 Foreword: On SWANA Literature + Art"

WATCH THE LAUNCH HERE Mizna launches its summer 2021 issue, Mizna 22.1, featuring readings by Hassan Saby, Maya Salameh, Nardine … Continue reading "Mizna 22.1 Virtual Launch"

Harnessing street protest as a poetic formation, Andrea Abi-Karam’s latest book of poetry, Villainy, exhibits the desires that bring queers into public … Continue reading "Villainy: A Mizna Community Reading + Conversation"

The Mizna Film Series is a monthly selection of programs, marking our first venture into year-round curated film programming. While … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series Fall 2021: Best of the Fest"

Designing across a variety of scripts comes with a set of challenges. Consideration for history, cultural nuances, and diverse communities … Continue reading "ARTIST TALK—Wael Morcos: Graphic Design in Multi-Cultural Contexts"

A Digital and Print Collection 2022 Pride Reading in NYC Seated is limited, RSVP today! Watch I Want Sky Print … Continue reading "I Want Sky: Celebrating Sarah Hegazy"

Circle Cinema OCTOBER 21–24, 2021 Mizna’s Arab Film Fest is on tour to Tulsa! A curated selection of contemporary and … Continue reading "Mizna’s Arab Film Fest: Tulsa Edition"

The winter 2022 issue of Mizna will be a Black takeover issue. Centered on the Black and Afro-SWANA communities in … Continue reading "Call for Positions: Mizna Black SWANA Takeover"

Mizna is presents a discussion between renowned filmmaker Mai Masri and scholar Miriam Cooke. Masri and Cooke will discuss Suspended Dreams, … Continue reading "Filmmaker Discussion: Mai Masri In Conversation with Miriam Cooke"

On August, 4, 2020 a portion of the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, kept in the centrally located port of … Continue reading "Remembering the Beirut Port Explosion"

Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, an eruption of anti-brutality riots commenced across the U.S. in support of … Continue reading "“Black Lives Matter” by Anis Chouchene"

Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, an eruption of anti-brutality riots commenced across the U.S. in support of … Continue reading "“Our Identity as Human”: Interview with Anis Chouchene by Ruba ElMelik"

In conjunction with our Beirut-focused summer film series, Mizna presents a discussion on Lebanese aesthetics and the legacy of Jocelyne … Continue reading "Letters from Beirut: Discussion with Rayyane Tabet and Dalia Said Mostafa"

Still from "Beirut, Never Again" (dir. Jocelyne Saab, 1976)

English follows شاركوا مزنة في محادثة باللغة العربية مع ثلاث فنانين من مزنة: عدد الكوميكس. سيناقش طارق أبو عمر، حسام … Continue reading "محادثة مع فنانين من مزنة: عدد الكوميكس"

One year ago, activist and writer Sarah Hegazy ended her life in response to unimaginable cruelty, after being imprisoned and … Continue reading "Mizna x AAWW: Announcing I WANT SKY"

Mizna is thrilled to announce that our literary journal has won a FIRECRACKER AWARD from the Community of Literary Magazines … Continue reading "Mizna Wins FIRECRACKER AWARD"

Michelle Baroody This text is presented as part of the Mizna Film Series, a monthly selection which expands our regular … Continue reading "A Note on Jocelyne Saab and Screening Violence"

The Mizna Film Series is a monthly selection of programs, marking our first venture into year-round curated film programming. While … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series Summer 2021: Beirut"

This Q&A is presented as part of the Mizna Film Series, a monthly selection which expands our regular film programming to … Continue reading "Q&A with Empty Metal’s Adam Khalil"

Note: Submissions for the Experimental Issue are now closed Call for submissions for Mizna: The Experimental Issue, Winter 2021. Due … Continue reading "Call for Submissions: The Experimental Issue"

Mizna is a proud sponsor and presenter of this year’s RAWIfest, a free virtual program celebrating Anglophone SWANA (Southwest Asian … Continue reading "Mizna at RAWIfest"

McKnight, Ford, Bush, and Jerome Foundations Create New Initiative for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American-Led Arts Organizations Press contact:Lana … Continue reading "Press Release: Mizna is Recognized as Regional Cultural Treasure"

Join us on Sunday, May 16, 6pm–8pm at Black Table Arts (3737 Minnehaha Ave, S Minneapolis 55406) for a gathering … Continue reading "تضامن | Solidarity: A Gathering for Palestine"

Hazem Fahmy This text is presented as part of the Mizna Film Series, a monthly selection which expands our regular film … Continue reading "Al Asleyeen"

UPDATE: A recording of the launch event of Mizna: The Comix Issue is available here. Join us in launching Mizna: … Continue reading "Mizna: The Comix Issue Virtual Launch"

Mizna is proud to present a reading exploring poetry and environmental justice featuring the powerful poets Samiya Bashir, Leila Chatti, … Continue reading "It is Burning./ It is Dreaming./ It is Waking Up/: Poetry and Environmental Justice"

A nylon bag dances across the gravel lot, crinkling, and the camera follows it. A gust of wind, caught on camera as a swirl of dust moving from right to left. Aljafari zooms in and follows the swirl, repeating the gesture a few times. Every day, at 5:13 am, a man in a checkered shirt walks across the lot to catch a bus.

The Mizna Film Series is a monthly selection of programs, marking our first venture into year-round curated film programming. While … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series Spring 2021: Surveillance"

Call for Summer 2021 Interns   Dates: June 1–August 31, 2021 (some flexibility in dates)  Stipend:  $1000 for summer internship Apply by March 22, … Continue reading "Summer 2021 Internship Opportunities"

Third Cinema filmmakers see film as a weapon with the camera as an “inexhaustible expropriator of image-weapons and the projector, a gun that can shoot 24 frames per second.”7 The act of filming then becomes more than a political act. Third Cinema films do not aim to re-aestheticize traditional cinematic modes, but to rather politicize cinema to the extent where a new cinematic code appropriate to its needs is established.

This summer, Mizna collaborates with teaching artists Taous Khazem and Mohammed Yabdri to offer a performing arts camp in Arabic … Continue reading "Takhiel! Imagine! Bilingual Performing Arts Camp for Kids"

This notebook is a special partnership between Mizna and Asian American Writers Workshop, guest-edited by Mariam Bazeed. Full submissions guidelines … Continue reading "Call for Submissions: I Want Sky"

The Mizna Film Series is a monthly selection of programs, marking our first venture into year-round curated film programming. While … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series Winter 2021: Restored Classics"

WHAT: A quarterly SWANA film series presented by Mizna with the Trylon Cinema.WHERE: Trylon Cinema, 2820 E 33rd St, Minneapolis, … Continue reading "Mizna Film Series"

On January 17th, we’re celebrating our most recent issue Mizna: Queer + Trans Voices in abundance! This virtual reading features … Continue reading "Celebrating Abundance: Queer + Trans Voices Virtual Reading"

In the still and dark of winter, Mizna invites storytellers to muse on seasonality, nature’s rhythms, and the things that … Continue reading "Out of the Depths: Winter Stories"

The Arab American National Museum (AANM), Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI), ArteEast and Mizna collectively present the Arab Film … Continue reading "Arab Film Fest Collab"

Join Mizna for a virtual launch of the summer 2020 issue Mizna: Queer + Trans Voices. Guest-edited by Zeyn Joukhadar, … Continue reading "Mizna: Queer + Trans Voices Virtual Launch"

FOR IMMEDIATED RELEASE:FOUR MAJOR NATIONAL ARAB AMERICAN CULTURAL ORGS JOIN FORCES TO PRESENT A VIRTUAL ARAB FILM FESTIVAL The Arab … Continue reading "Press Release 10/27/2020: Arab Film Fest Collab Starts December 3, 2020"

Mizna brings together a powerful slate of today’s most compelling Muslim and Southwest Asian and North African poets for the … Continue reading "A Mizna Reading at Dodge Poetry Festival"

Zeyn Joukhadar Foreword for Mizna: Queer + Trans Voices I The camera lens is a dark blue eye. Four months … Continue reading "Worlds of Our Own Making"

Mizna read the below accountability statement to commence the webinar series addressing anti-Black racism in SWANA + Diaspora communities. See … Continue reading "Accountability Statement"

In case you missed it, you can watch the Poetry Coalition’s full ONE POEM Festival in Support of Black Lives … Continue reading "One Poem: A Protest Reading in Support of Black Lives"

Exciting news: Mizna was named Best Non-profit of the Twin Cities by Citypages! For over 20 years, Mizna has provided … Continue reading "Mizna featured in Citypages ‘Best of the Twin Cities’ Edition"

Statement in Farsi / فارسی • Statement in Arabic / عربى Following a statement made after the brutal murder of … Continue reading "Webinar Series: Anti-Black Racism in SWANA + Diaspora"

Deadline for submissions: July 1, 2020 Mizna’s Twin Cities Arab Film Festival (TCAFF) is seeking films for our upcoming festival … Continue reading "Call for Submissions: 2020 Twin Cities Arab Film Fest"

Join Mizna, ITSRC, NAATW & AROC for a series of webinars addressing Anti-Black racism in Southwest Asian / North African … Continue reading "Black Lives Matter"

ترجمة عربية Mizna, the only Arab lit and art journal in the United States, is seeking submissions for a special … Continue reading "Calling all Arab & SWANA illustrators and comic artists!"

POETRY COALITION FELLOWSHIP– APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED UNTIL JULY 15, 2020. Mizna, a founding member of the Poetry Coalition, is accepting applications … Continue reading "FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY"

Mizna is pleased to share a curated list of resources from organizations around the world for keeping up with SWANA culture during lockdown.

As routines shift and we find ourselves spending more time at home than we ever anticipated, art is an essential … Continue reading "Introducing #MiznaAtHome"

Past Arab Film Fest curators recommend Arab/SWANA cinema available on streaming platforms for your quarantine viewing pleasure. Check out the … Continue reading "#MiznaAtHome: SWANA Cinema Watchlist"

The lines from Audre Lorde’s poem “New Year’s Day” serve as an inspiration for a Poetry Coalition collaboration. Image on … Continue reading "Part II: “I Am Deliberate and Afraid of Nothing”—Four Writers on Poetry and Protest"

Mizna + Asian American Writers’ Workshop partnered to present our first virtual reading! I Am Deliberate And Afraid of Nothing: … Continue reading "Virtual Reading: I am Deliberate and Afraid of Nothing"

With the rising public health concerns about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and Mizna’s office being a multi-use space, we would like … Continue reading "COVID-19 Precautions"

The lines from Audre Lorde’s poem “New Year’s Day” serve as an inspiration for a Poetry Coalition collaboration. By The Asian … Continue reading "Part I: “I Am Deliberate and Afraid of Nothing”—Six Writers on Poetry and Protest"

Guest edited by Zeyn Joukhadar!**DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 4/14!**CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS IS NOW CLOSED. Queer and transgender writers who are Arab, … Continue reading "Call for Submissions: Queer + Trans Voices"

History Is Not Here: Art and the Arab Imaginary was included in the Star Tribune’s “best of 2019 arts and … Continue reading "The year’s best Twin Cities art exhibitions were diverse and international"

COVID19 UPDATE: The reception on March 20 has been cancelled. The NYMCC gallery is implementing “soft close” this week with … Continue reading "New York Mills: a visual art exhibition + indie film screenings"

Moheb shares the following introduction to his series, titled “Getting Out”: “Art,Bye bye. Hello real life. Goodbye translation; hello interpretation. … Continue reading "Getting Out: Mn Artists Guest Editor Moheb Soliman"

Art exhibition at SooVAC rejects ‘Middle East’ in favor of a more inclusive community. SWANA is meant as a corrective … Continue reading "Let There Be Spaces in Your Togetherness Featured in Star Tribune"

“In addition to bringing works by an international roster of artists to the Twin Cities, ‘History Is Not Here’ affirmed … Continue reading "History Is Not Here Featured in ArtAsiaPacific"

This January, Mizna is partnering with SooVAC to bring contemporary arts programming by SWANA artists + filmmakers to greater Minnesota. … Continue reading "St. Cloud State University: a visual art exhibition + indie film screenings"

New York, NY (November 8, 2019)— Leaders from more than 25 national, regional, and local poetry organizations will hold a … Continue reading "Poetry Leaders from Across the U. S. to Gather in Florida to Mark Dramatic Growth in Readers and Historic Philanthropic Gifts"

Mizna partners with SooVAC to present Let There Be Spaces in Your Togetherness, a juried group exhibition by local and national … Continue reading "Let There Be Spaces In Your Togetherness"

Mizna celebrated twenty years with a benefit on November 2, 2019 at Hennepin Theatre Trust. NPR reporter and Mizna journal … Continue reading "Mizna featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition"

Mizna’s turning 20! Join us to mark this special milestone. Enjoy a lively evening of community, a delicious meal, and … Continue reading "Mizna’s 20th Anniversary Benefit with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar"

It’s with startling force that Handal builds an architecture for the wanderer.—Washington Independent Review of Books Join Mizna for a … Continue reading "Nathalie Handal: An Evening of Poetry"

December 4 – Workshop December 8 – Listening Session Local Collaborators About Joe Namy Half Blue comes out of a long-term poetic … Continue reading "Joe Namy: The Deeper Half Blue"

September 12, 2019 – January 5, 2020 About History Is Not HerePublic InstallationsExhibition ProgrammingAbout the CuratorsExhibition Photos Curated by Heba … Continue reading "History Is Not Here: Art and the Arab Imaginary"

Announcing the Juried + Audience award winning films from the 14th Annual Twin Cities Arab Film Fest. See below for … Continue reading "Arab Film Fest 2019 Juried + Audience Awards"

Mizna is proud to announce the full schedule of the 2019 Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. This year features an … Continue reading "2019 Arab Film Fest"

Mizna: Twenty Years is now available. To celebrate Mizna’s 20th anniversary, this issue has a special focus on Sudan in … Continue reading "Mizna: Twenty Years, Available Now"

Mizna and Soo Visual Arts Center (SooVAC) invite early career, US-based artists from the Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) … Continue reading "Call for Art: Deadline, September 15"

Mizna and Soo Visual Arts Center (SooVAC) invite early career, US-based artists from the Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) … Continue reading "CALL FOR ART: Let There Be Spaces in Your Togetherness"

June 2019, Mizna is offering 2 intensive classes in spoken and written Arabic taught by Dunia Khouri. Classes will take … Continue reading "June Intensive Arabic Classes"

Marking seventy years of displacement and occupation in Palestine, Mizna presents The Palestine Issue, centering the Palestinian struggle for liberation … Continue reading "Mizna: The Palestine Issue"

TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 26-29, 2019 Mizna’s Twin Cities Arab Film Festival (TCAFF) is seeking films for the upcoming … Continue reading "CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: 2019 Arab Film Fest"

Shop with Mizna on our online store. You can purchase back issues of Mizna, register for a spot in Arabic … Continue reading "Shop Classes, Journals, Subscriptions, and Merch"

Mizna is proud to announce the nomination of six pieces for the 2018 Pushcart Prize. Three pieces from the summer … Continue reading "2018 Pushcart Prize Nominations"

Mizna’s Arab Film Festival festival celebrates films and filmmakers whose work sets them apart. For the fourth year, we convened … Continue reading "Winners of the 2018 Twin Cities Arab Film Festival Awards"

Also, the ability to roll with the punches is an essential attribute to success in a challenge like this. Many things will not go as planned, and you have to be able to accept it and move on. You have to find another way, adjust something else, accept the newly added inefficiency to your plan, and replan accordingly. There is no other way.

"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?"

Our upcoming themed issue of Mizna is an exploration of the way the world of sports reflects critical issues affecting … Continue reading "COMING SOON: Mizna 19.1, The Playing Field"

Mizna 18.2, features contributions from George Abraham, Cathy Camper, R.M.E., Mohja Kahf, Ismail Khalidi, Hassan Mekouar, Philip Metres, David Mura, … Continue reading "Mizna 18.2"

When conclusions are reached, guns are often drawn. Let's pause for a moment and take a look at this sentence.

INTRODUCTION TO ARAB AMERICAN POETRYby Lana Barkawi and Moheb Soliman for North American Review The latest issue of the North American … Continue reading "North American Review Features Arab American Poetry from Mizna"

Mizna is proud to announce our 2017 Pushcart Prize Nominees. From Mizna Summer 2016: • Suheir Hammad for “prince and queens”• Amir Hussain for “Unmanned”• Tammy Lakkis for … Continue reading "Pushcart Prize 2017 Nominees"

The 11th Twin Cities Arab Film Festival was a weekend of beautiful, challenging, and powerful film. Thank you to our audiences, … Continue reading "Winners of the 2016 Twin Cities Arab Film Fest Awards"

MIZNA STREAM Tune into Mizna Stream for highlights of great readings, discussions, and events from Mizna. August 24, 2016 PERFORMANCE … Continue reading "Arab American Culture Podcast"

Heba Y. Amin is Mizna’s new Curator of Visual Art. This interview was conducted by Lana Barkawi and published in … Continue reading "An Interview From the Summer 2016 Issue of Mizna"

Mizna sat in on a rehearsal of “In Algeria They Know My Name,” an upcoming, one-woman play written by and … Continue reading "An Interview With Taous Khazem"

The 10th Twin Cities Arab Film Festival was a weekend of beautiful, challenging, and powerful film. Thank you to our audiences, filmmakers, … Continue reading "Winners of the Twin Cities Arab Film Fest Awards"

We’re happy to share the news that the incomparable Heba Amin, long-time Mizna friend who is one of the artists behind the … Continue reading "Homeland Hacker Heba Amin Joins Mizna"

Joyce Foundation Fellow through Mizna, Moheb Soliman documents his journey across the Great Lakes Borderland of Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie … Continue reading "H.O.M.E.S"

Read Judy Woodward’s Park Bugle interview with Mizna’s executive director Lana Barkawi.

View all of Mizna’s newsletters below. March 30, 2015March 5, 2015February 2, 2015January 28, 2015January 9, 2015December 31, 2014December 28, … Continue reading "Newsletter Archives"

I walk as if I were another. And my wound a white biblical rose. And my hands like two doves on the cross hovering and carrying the earth.

Mizna is a Twin Cities-based arts organization that provides a forum for Arab American film, literature, and art. Our main … Continue reading "Mizna is Seeking Interns"

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS DECEMBER 31, 2012 Mizna’s Twin Cities Arab Film Festival is seeking films–narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated–both … Continue reading "CALL FOR FILMS: 8th Twin Cities Arab Film Festival"

Mizna is pleased to announce the addition of poet Jen March to our editorial team. Jen has long been in … Continue reading "Meet Mizna’s New Poetry Editor, Jen March. Also, Call for Submissions Deadline!!"

BY MOHANNAD GHAWANMEH During the long wait between Twin Cities Arab Film Festival editions, where do you go to stay tuned in … Continue reading "Cinema Arabiata, an Arab Film Blog"

MIZNA’S 7TH TWIN CITIES ARAB FILM FESTIVALDeadline extended, now August 29, 2011! Mizna’s 7th Twin Cities Arab Film Festival is … Continue reading "Film Submission Deadline Extended!"

MINNESOTA’S FIRST ARAB FILM FESTIVAL SPEAKS LOUDER THAN CNN Jeremy O’Kasick, City Pages At the close of Jenin Jenin, a … Continue reading "FILM FEST REVIEW: Mid-East Summit in Midwest"

“PROSE, POETRY & ART EXPLORING ARAB AMERICA” Library Journal 1999. 3/yr. $40. Ed: Lisa Adwan. PO Box 14294, Minneapolis, MN … Continue reading "Library Journal Review of the Mizna Journal"

SOME ARAB AND MUSLIM WRITERS SAY THEY’RE SEEN AS THE USA’S GOBLINS. THEY’RE USING HALLOWEEN TO TRY TO CHANGE THAT … Continue reading "“Fearful Voices” Review: Haunted by Stereotypes"

LITERARY JOURNAL PROVIDES FOCUS FOR A PROUD AND DIVERSE COMMUNITY TO EXPRESS ITSELF IN AN ERA OF MISUNDERSTANDING Anayat Durrani, … Continue reading "Arab-Americans Find a Liberating Voice in “The Cloud Of The Desert”"